


The End of Hope's Peak

by ChasML



Series: Chas' Fanon Ishimondo Timeline [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, But still lots of despair before it gets there, But the aftermath of reserve suicide will be described, DR:IF timeline, Gen, Homophobia, I don't intend to do gory in-depth descriptions, M/M, Mass Suicide, Occasional fluff, Panic Attacks, Suicide, Takaaki is a jerk in this one, Tragedy, at least at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2020-05-29 17:05:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 129,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19404505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChasML/pseuds/ChasML
Summary: (This is a continuation of my other fics, One Personal Favour and Surprise for Ishimaru. You will also probably need to know about the spoilers for DR:Zero, what happens in Despair Girls and it'll help make sense much later if you've read DR:IF.)After a year of self-discovery and growth at Hope's Peak, and with his boyfriend and friends at his side, Kiyotaka was ready to start facing life's challenges and working to better the lives of everyone- at his school AND everywhere else!But then one piece of news sets off a chain of events that changes everything...





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back to writing, apparently! I really didn't mean to leave this series hanging for two whole years, but I'm now carrying on with it, although it probably won't be as in-depth as I originally planned, and will be very focused on what's going on with Taka and Mondo.  
> This is going to follow the series canon events with the Tragedy and the kids hiding in the school, however after that it'll go down the DR:IF route, so the DR:1 kids will all survive (the Major Character Death warning is for Jin.)  
> As it says in the description you will need to have read One Personal Favour and Surprise for Ishimaru to understand any of what's going on here, but this prologue will also be a recap of the last few things that happened in those fics, if it's been a while since you read them.  
> If the 9,000 word prologue didn't clue you in, this fic is going to have long chapter lengths, though hopefully not any that are as long as the 59,000 word Sayaka chapter in OPF. Chapters will update as and when they're ready- I probably won't be writing this as quickly as I wrote OPF, as I'm a lot busier these days.  
> This prologue is going to be focusing on Takaaki, starting with the week after Taka's birthday party. We'll get back to Taka, Mondo and everyone else next chapter.

(Friday, September 7th 2012)

Takaaki grimaced as a particularly loud howl of laughter from the office next to his shot painfully through his head… He really didn’t need a fucking _migraine_ on top of everything else that had happened this week!

Though it was no surprise he was getting one, given how much extra trouble Kiyotaka’s… _idiocy_ at the weekend had caused! It had been bad enough seeing the boy not only look at that fucking thug like… like _that,_ but also completely _defy_ Takaaki when he tried to put a stop to it, _and_ choose to go back to that _damn_ school instead of _listening_ to him!

But then he got to work the next day and discovered exactly _how_ idiotic the boy had been! What had he been _thinking!?_ Taking a fucking _gang leader_ into _every shop in town_ and _introducing him as his friend!?_ Had he not listened to _anything_ Takaaki had told him about needing to keep his reputation clean!? Or was he just so damn _full of himself_ that he honestly thought it wouldn’t matter!? That he could just put in enough _hard work_ to make up for it!? Had it never occurred to him that _Takaaki_ had been doing nothing but _working hard_ for _decades_ and they were _still_ in almost the same fucking position his _father_ had left them in!? He couldn’t _just_ rely on _effort_ to fix _everything!_

Another bolt of pain radiated out from his jaw, and Takaaki realised he was clenching his teeth in anger again. He had to try and stop that… He had to try and stop thinking about Kiyotaka, and what had happened at his damn party last weekend! But it wasn’t easy when most of the week had been spent answering questions about it…

Still he needed to try, so he allowed himself a moment to try and massage some of the pain out of his jaw and forehead and started processing the paperwork in his inbox… Hopefully that should stop his mind from drifting back to Kiyotaka, at least until the end of his shift…

“Ishimaru, The Johnson case just got bumped up to a priority.” _More_ pain, as Takaaki jumped slightly when the superintendent barged into his office without warning, as he always did. “I hope you’re not too busy to have finished those witness reports.”

“Don’t worry sir, they’re all here in my outbox…” Takaaki quickly rummaged through the outbox for the right file and handed it to him, noting the usual scowl of annoyance that Takaaki had actually _got_ the information he needed. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“No…” The man turned to leave, and Takaaki assumed it was safe to start picking his pen back up. “Though I _did_ see a report about some shouting coming from your house last Saturday…”

 _God fucking DAMN it, he thought he was done having to cover this shit up already!_ But he did his best not to his anger show as he tried put on a wry smile and blow the whole thing over… “Oh… _that._ Yes… Kiyotaka _did_ get a little over-dramatic about saying goodbye…”

That’s what he’d been _telling_ people the last argument out on the lawn had been. Thankfully, the neighbours had only heard _shouting,_ not _what_ they were shouting… at least Takaaki _hoped_ that was the case, and they weren’t only _pretending_ not to heard the entire thing, just so they could bring it up later when it’d do more damage to him… If only Kiyotaka hadn't made him _angry_ enough to _stupidly_ bring up the thug while they were _outside…!_

“Was that all it was…?” Takaaki couldn’t help but wonder if one of the neighbours _had_ told the superintendent, as he dismissively smirked at Takaaki’s answer. “I thought you might have been worried about him going around town being all friendly with that Oowada punk…”

 _“_ Well… I can’t say I’m _happy_ about it…” He understated, “But Kiyotaka says he’s just doing it to teach the guy to ‘clean up his act.’”

“Really?” His boss raised an eyebrow at him, “I suppose you’ll be saying _that’s_ why his gang all started wearing _helmets_ back in the spring _…”_

…They _had!?_ Kiyotaka hadn’t mentioned it, but… “That _would_ have been after he… after he first started working on the thug…” Takaaki was too _tired_ for this, he’d almost slipped and said ‘after he started calling him _kyoudai’!_ “But that _can’t_ be it…” Oowada wouldn’t have forced his whole _gang_ to change their outfits, just to trick Kiyotaka… he’d have just done it himself and _told_ Kiyotaka the rest had… so there must be some _other_ benefit for them… “…They must have done it to make it harder for us to recognise them.”

“…That _would_ explain why we’re getting less call-outs about them…” His boss absent-mindedly agreed with him for once. “But, I must say, you were all over that business with him helping that pop-star! Did something…”

“The _pop-star_ is _respectable!”_ Takaaki snapped before the man could finish poking his nose into how his relationship with his _son_ was right now... Only to realise that he’d just cut off his own _boss,_ and given an incredibly self-serving reason to pick and choose which of Kiyotaka’s class to talk about… “I mean… The fact that there’s _videos_ of him at that concert along with _her_ writing a _song_ about him makes it easier to believe that Kiyotaka was involved than the _biker_ just _happening_ to start wearing a helmet and putting on a _suit_ for his birthday!”

“…She wrote a _song_ about him!?”

“…I think so…” Takaaki admitted without thinking. Of all the things for his boss to follow up on, he hadn’t expected the man to care about _that_ one. “She gave him a CD with ‘hero hall monitor’ or something on it, so I assumed it was a song about him. I didn’t get to listen to it, what with… all the other presents he had to open.”

Another time when he’d had to stop himself from letting slip what had _actually_ happened last Friday… If this conversation didn’t finish soon, then he might actually end up ruining all the work he’d done to sweep it all under the rug this week…

“Tch… Well, good for _you two!”_ Luckily, that last comment seemed to have irritated his boss enough for the man to finish the conversation, turning and leaving with a jealous look on his face… Was he really that bothered that someone had written a song about Kiyotaka? Or was he just jealous that Kiyotaka had got a lot of presents…?

 _Hah!_ The man wouldn’t look so jealous if he’d actually _seen_ what those presents _were!_ Especially that goddamn _comic_ and the… the _wooden things!_ And who’s to say that _song_ didn’t talk about Kiyotaka ‘loving’ the damn thug as well!

…Oh _god,_ what if it _did!?_ And what if Maizono _published_ it!? He’d _just_ told his boss the son was definitely about _Kiyotaka!_ The boy would be _ruined,_ and _him_ along with him!

 _Urgghh…_ Takaaki’s jaw clenched as his head starting to throb again… He needed to try and calm down… Just because _one_ classmate of Kiyotaka’s had thought it was acceptable to put that sort of thing in a present, didn’t mean they _all_ would! Hell, even the damn _biker_ had only shown them _hugging!_ A respectable _pop-idol_ like the Maizono girl wasn’t going to release a song about sort of thing, was she now…?”

The throbbing subsided somewhat at that thought, and the fact that Takaaki was now breathing again. At least enough to get on with finishing his work before his shift ended, anyway…

_*Beep beep beep*_

Takaaki glared at the phone as his hand instinctively moved to pick it up. Who was ringing him _this_ late in the day!? They were lucky he hadn’t gone off shift already…!

“Good Evening, Father!” It was _Kiyotaka!?_ And with just the same-old cheesy greeting as always, as if he hadn’t caused Takaaki a whole _mess_ of trouble this week! “I…”

**_*SLAM!*_ **

Takaaki barely noticed the loud crashing noise he made as he angrily hung up on his son. He’d spent the whole _week_ having to come up with lies _on the spot_ because _the idiotic boy_ had been _stupid_ enough to have his damn _party_ in the middle of the park, drag that _bastard_ around town and introduce him to _everyone_ and then _bring him back to the house_ just to argue about it _loud enough for all the neighbours to HEAR THEM!_ And now he just expected them to have their nice, friendly little weekly chat as if nothing had happened!

 _*Beep beep beep*_ And now he even trying again!? As if Takaaki had hung up by _mistake!?_ Didn’t he have _any_ idea how _fucking awful_ he’d made Takaaki’s week!? As if he was going to be in the right mood to talk to _anyone_ after all of this!

**_*SLAM!*_ **

The desk rattled again as he picked the phone up and slammed it straight back down on the receiver, breathing heavily as he glared it, _daring_ it to have the nerve to ring again…

It didn’t. Seemed the boy had taken the hint. Which meant Takaaki was free to pick up his pen _,_ finish the final few lines of his report, pack everything up for the evening and head home, ignoring the odd looks his colleagues were inevitably giving him from behind his back…

 _How the hell had this happened!?_ It wasn’t even _two months ago_ that everyone had been muttering about his son being a _hero!_ Now it was all talk about how’d he’d been swanning around with a _gangster_ and probably had a screaming match about it with his own _father!_

Why couldn’t Kiyotaka at least have had the _sense_ to try and tell him about the thug in _private,_ instead of turning it into some overblown drama for the whole _town_ to find out about!? They’d had a whole _six weeks_ together and he’d not said a _word_ about it! He’d hardly said anything at _all…_ He’d just looked _worried,_ most of the time Takaaki had talked to him...

…Was that because Kiyotaka was worrying about _how_ to tell him, the whole time…? He hadn’t exactly _asked_ the boy what was wrong, had he?

But… that was hardly _his_ fault! He’d been working himself to exhaustion for most of the summer! Whereas Kiyotaka had just been at home studying! Well, and helping out with some chores, of course... But you could hardly blame _Takaaki_ for thinking that maybe, just _maybe,_ his son had been concerned about _him,_ and how hard he was working, _could_ you!? It’d been _nice_ to think the boy _cared!_ Instead it turned out he’d just been thinking about his damn _‘kyoudai’_ back in fucking _Hope’s Peak_ the whole time! It was no _wonder_ he’d got so angry enough to throw a punch over it!

...Even though he _really_ hadn’t intended to hit _Kiyotaka_ at the time, and _now_ realised he probably shouldn’t have done it at _all_ … But it still wasn't _his_ fault...! 

(Monday, September 10th 2012)

Takaaki rushed into the library, ignoring the irritable look from the librarian as he dashed across to the closest free computer and quickly started logging onto his online banking account… Usually he’d have been a lot quieter than this, but right now he needed to know if he’d been screwed over by those idiot accountants at work or not!

Honestly, what had he done to deserve all this crap happening to him all at once!? _Usually_ it wouldn’t _matter_ that there’d been some monumental _cock_ -up that caused a random half of the force’s paychecks not to be paid into their accounts, because he’d have checked online _himself_ and spotted the problem _before_ all his bills went out today! But _this_ month he’d been so preoccupied with the fallout from Kiyotaka’s stupid birthday weekend that he _hadn’t!_ Which meant that if it turned out _his_ paycheck was one of the ones that _hadn’t_ been paid, then he’d have ended up with an unauthorised overdraft, and the account would have ended up racking up extra charges for every single payment that he’d _tried_ to make without actually having the money for…

He almost couldn’t bear to look at the screen as he finally logged in, but he’d have to bite the bullet eventually…

His account was at… _positive_ ¥34,000. _Thank_ _goodness for that!_ He didn’t even want to _think_ how much going overdrawn could have cost him!

…But that number didn’t make sense. If his salary had gone into his account it should have been much higher than that! But if it _hadn’t,_ then why wasn’t he in the red? Unless a bill payment hadn’t gone out when he’d expected it to… He’d best check what had happened…

He clicked the bit that made a list of all the incomes and payments come up… The bill payments had all come out of his account today, as expected. But before that there had been one payment of… ¥60,000 on Saturday?

That wasn’t the right amount _or_ time for his salary payment! So he _was_ still going to have to get accounts to sort their mistake out… And where had _this_ money come from…?

AH! _Kiyotaka!_ He must have been given his relief fund payment now he was back at the school and sent it across without telling him…

…Because they’d not spoken on Friday…

Because Takaaki had hung up on him…

…So he couldn’t just assume the payment _was_ from Kiyotaka, could he? Or even that his son wouldn’t try and demand the money _back,_ now that he’d refused to talk to him. Perhaps he’d best check what the payment reference said in more detail, in case it was an accidental payment from someone else, or Kiyotaka had just set up some automated payment and not cancelled it in time…

_‘Sry2Dsapnt I Luv U’_

_WHAT!?_ What the hell kind of name was that!? How would you even pronounce it!? ‘Suhry two disapunt…’

 _‘…Sorry to disappoint. I love you.’_ It was a _message._ A message from _Kiyotaka._ And _not_ just an automated payment, otherwise it would have been his name, like it usually was. Presumably the terrible spelling was to make the words short enough to fit…

In other words he’d probably sent this _after_ trying to phone on Friday, once Takaaki hanging up on him had made him realise how _serious_ this was…

Assuming he hadn’t _already_ realised that when he tried to ring up. Just because he’d started the phonecall the same way as always didn’t mean he hadn’t been intending to apologise for his idiocy afterwards. He might just have been trying to make the other kids using the phones think everything was the same as normal…

Maybe Takaaki had been too quick to hang up on him… Kiyotaka was still being responsible with the money, and still cared enough to try and add an apology message to the payment. Perhaps, after he’d had calmed down from the excitement of the party and the arguments over him breaking a fellow class-mates ‘work’, Kiyotaka had realised that Takaaki was _right,_ and he _did_ have to stop having anything to do with that gangster! After all, _Takaaki_ had been able to realise what _he’d_ done wrong, like resorting to violence and being the one to start shouting and mention _Kiyotaka getting ‘fucked by the violent gang leader’_ when they were _outside…_ And it wouldn’t be the _first_ time Kiyotaka had backed down from an idea, once he’d had time to reconsider.

Alright then… This Friday, he’d keep his temper in check and give Kiyotaka a chance to speak. After all, he’d never be able to convince the boy to listen to him if they didn’t talk at _all,_ and if he was lucky he might not have anything he needed to convince Kiyotaka _of!_

(Friday, September 14th 2012)

Takaaki surreptitiously checked his watch again for the fifth time… He was _sure_ it would have been past 8pm by now, but it turned out it was _still_ a few minutes beforehand…

He was starting to get concerned about this call. After seeing the money on Monday, he’d been pretty sure this call wouldn’t descend into an argument. But then a few days later he’d received a letter in the mail that had started with ‘Dear Father, I hope you are well. I’m sorry to have disappointed you and for not having the courage to warn you about my feeling for Mondo earlier, **_but_** …’ and had then gone on about how _great_ the biker supposedly was for over a _page…_

How much time had he wasted writing all of _that_ out!? If he was seriously trying to become head of the student council, then shouldn’t he be focusing all his effort on _that!?_ Or did he seriously believe that having a _gangster’s_ help would convince enough of the students to make up for taking a several-hour break to sing his praises on paper!?

He’d burnt the thing, or course. Couldn’t have _that_ evidence lying around… But it now meant he knew for _sure_ that this was going to turn into another argument with his son!

He’d just… have to do his best to keep his voice down this time, and try to be subtle. He wouldn’t want to deal with another batch of rumours about him arguing with his son to go flying around…

_*Beep beep beep*_

Finally! Takaaki quickly picked up the phone…

“Father! I’m at the air…” Kiyotaka’s voice barked down the line, over the louder-than-usual background noise of other students using the phone.

“Have you… _changed_ anything?” Takaaki asked, carefully keeping his voice neutral…

“I haven’t changed anything!” Takaaki stifled a groan as Kiyotaka irritably gave him the answer he hadn’t wanted to hear… “I’m still running for student council president and…”

Oh for pity’s sake! So much for being subtle! He’d just have to settle for being _quiet!_ “You _know_ what I’m talking about! That… _thug!”_

“He's _not_ a thug!” Kiyotaka snapped, although he had the sense to do it quietly. “I’ll admit he _might_ have been in the past but…”

This was turning into Kiyotaka repeating the letter he’d written… But of course, Takaaki already had an argument against _this…_ “He still _looks_ like one!”

“It doesn’t _matter_ what he looks like! It’s his actual _behaviour_ you should be…”

Was Kiyotaka _joking!?_ Or had he just _completely_ forgotten all his standards…!?

“Kiyotaka, you _know_ that’s not true!” At least, he _hoped_ his son understood that. But he’d have to…! “…Unless you’ve just been blindly issuing detentions for breaking rules without considering _why_ those rules exist…”

It took a little while for Kiyotaka to realise what he was talking about...

“School uniforms create a sense of unity between students and…” Oh for pity’s sake. He still actually believed the nonsense schools spouted to justify things…?

“School uniforms exist to get kids used to wearing the types of clothes they’ll need to be taken seriously as an adult!” Takaaki corrected him, sharply.

“But… practically speaking, every job requires a different outfit!” Kiyotaka argued back, “A school uniform wouldn’t have got _you_ used to wearing your vest!”

“Do you really the people making dress codes care about _practicality?_ There’s no reason for me to wear a _tie_ to do my job! If anything it’s an extra risk to my life!” He laughed at the idiocy of it, before realising he could use it to make a point to Kiyotaka… “But if I _didn’t_ everyone I met would be judging me for it, _based on how I look!_ And they’ll judge _you_ if you keep being stupid enough to… be seen with _him_ in public!”

Kiyotaka was silent for a moment, before _barely_ admitting. “I… I’m aware of that…”

So why had they just argued about it for five minutes!? Assuming he wasn’t just being a contrary brat on _purpose…!_ “Then _why_ are you…!?”

“… _But_ that’s outweighed by how much support and advice he gives me!” Kiyotaka interrupted him, “And… and how he’s helped me learn to speak to people more… normally! And he’s been helping me with my student council president’s campaign by…”

This was just more of the nonsense in the letter, which meant he’d already thought about what he’d need to point out to Kiyotaka, as _painful_ as it might be to the lad right now…

“You _really_ think that’s going to be enough to make up for what you’re doing? Do you have _any_ idea how many people don’t even think you should _exist!?”_

“…About 33%. But I’ll…”

“So you know _exactly_ how much of an _idiot_ you’re being!” Takaaki couldn’t help but snap at him, even though he was pretty sure Kiyotaka’s number was about 20 or 30% lower than it _should_ have been... “And you’re _still_ going to insist you can ‘work harder to make up for it’!?”

 _“Yes!_ After all, my _actions_ will…”

“Oh, for _god’s sake…”_ He sighed, as Kiyotaka started repeating the letter verbatim again… “I _thought_ that message meant you’d come to your senses…”

“I… I never _lost_ my senses!” Kiyotaka snapped at him, “I just meant that…”

“I don’t need to hear it!” After all, he’d _read_ it all already! And there was _one_ point that counteracted them all! “Our family’s in enough trouble, thanks to your grandfather being an idiot! I can’t afford to have _you_ being one as well!”

“Father, _please,_ at least _listen_ to me! Mondo is…”

 _“No,_ Kiyotaka!” He tried _ordering_ his son again, before realising how late it was getting, and the risk that his relief would be arriving soon and might be hearing this… “I’m hanging up now…”

 _“Wait, PLEASE!”_ Kiyotaka stupidly _screeched_ over the phone. Now all those other students were going to know there was something going on between the pair of them! Every time he had a conversation with the boy about this, their reputation was getting worse and worse…

He'd _have_ to make Kiyotaka stop doing this…

“Don’t call me again unless it’s to tell me that you’ve _stopped_ this.”

He didn’t give Kiyotaka a chance to respond before putting the phone down, and thankfully Kiyotaka didn’t do anything idiotic, like trying ringing the number again in the last minute he had before he needed to get up and leave…

(Monday, September 17th 2012)

Takaaki walked his usual route to work, trying to stop himself from thinking about Kiyotaka yet again by glancing at the newspaper headlines in shop windows as he went…

… _40 dead in airport bombing!?_ They’d managed to bomb a plane from the _outside…!?_ And every paper had a picture of the plane titled tilted sideways because one wing had been ripped off, and pictures of people having to be carried down from the airplane stairs…

Why in _hell’s name_ would someone do something like that!? And how the hell had they _managed_ it!? Managing to get the supplies to make a bomb that big without raising suspicion would have been no small feat, let alone actually _building_ the thing and getting it past airport security!

Well… there were probably people higher up in the force looking into that right at this very minute. It didn’t have anything to do with Takaaki… thank gods for that! He had enough to worry about with Kiyotaka’s _stupid,_ naivety! Honestly, acting as if he needed _help_ from that _fucking gangster…_ Even if the thug _was_ helping him, it still wasn’t worth being known to be _dating a male CRIMINAL!_ How the _hell_ could Kiyotaka not _see_ that!?

 _Urrgghh…_ dammit, he _needed_ to stop thinking about this! It was plain as _day_ that there was nothing he could say to convince his stubborn mule of a son to see reason… All he was doing by focusing on it constantly was just making himself feel sick! But just _knowing_ that what Kiyotaka was doing… even if the boy _did_ have the sense to keep it quiet, it would only take one slip-up, or the wrong person finding out, and it could ruin _everything_ for him! Hell, he might have _already_ ruined everything, and just not know it yet! All it would take was one person knowing… or even having an _inkling_ of what was going on, and the minute Kiyotaka announced he was running for office it’d all come out and his campaign would be over before it even _started!_ Did he _really_ not understand that…!?

There he was… doing it again. Ever since that _damn_ party, every time he didn’t have any work to do, or reports to read, or orders to follow, thoughts of Kiyotaka would pop out of nowhere, and then he’d start endlessly thinking around in circles as his mind tried to solve the unsolvable problem that was his son’s behaviour right now… Even though the only thing he had any control over was how much distance to put between himself and Kiyotaka’s inevitable scandal…

Well… at least he was almost at work and a good eight hours of dealing with _other_ people’s problems, instead of worrying about his own.

…But before he could do _that,_ he had to get into the actual _building,_ which was going to be awkward, given the crowd of reporters outside the main entrance! What on Earth were _they_ doing here!? This looked like far too many people to be just the local press… had something big happened overnight? But even then, he’d had thought the _national_ press would all be busy clamouring for information about the airport bombing to come _here_.

…Unless that was why they _were_ here…? If the bomber had been found to have come from somewhere in this jurisdiction, then the press were probably all here to ask how the hell they hadn’t picked up on the attack sooner, even though intelligence reports weren’t anything to do with them!

God, what an awful mess _that_ was going to be! But he didn’t need to get himself involved at all… he could just sneak away from the group and try and enter through the side door instead…

 _“AH! There_ he is! Right on time, despite everything!” The superintendent’s voice suddenly rang out over the crowd of journalists, sounding unusually pleased about something. “Ishimaru! Why don’t you come up here! If you could all just let him through…”

… _What…? Him!?_ Talk to the _press!?_ What the hell was the man _thinking!?_ Why the hell would they want to talk to _him!?_ Had he screwed something up? He was almost _certain_ he hadn’t screwed anything up… but with how distracted he’d been lately, it was _possible…_

“Hahah! Come on, Takaaki! Don’t be shy!” _WHAT!?_ Why the hell was his boss suddenly acting like they were _friends,_ and calling him by his first name…? In front of the _press_ of all people!? This couldn’t be real, could it…? _“ **Takaaki!...?”**_

Ah _. There_ it was… that usual look of annoyance hidden under a layers of professionalism, as the man clearly resented having to pretend he and Takaaki were on anything resembling _good terms_ with each other... and was getting rapidly aggravated that Takaaki was taking so long to play along.

“…Yes, sir!” Takaaki nodded and quickly made his way through the narrow path that the throng of reporters had left him, pushing aside some cameras and microphones that were stuck in his path as he did so. He might not know what all this was about, but he _did_ know it would a bad idea not to go along with it.

“Alright, up you come!” The superintendent made a show of helping Takaaki up to the makeshift-soapbox he’d arranged himself on. “Any questions for Takaaki…?”

“Do you agree with your son’s statement, yesterday?”

… _WHAT!? What statements!?_ What the _hell_ had Kiyotaka _done NOW!?_

“Ahahaa… I’m _sure_ Takaaki agrees with his son _completely_ that everyone here in the force is dedicated to doing their jobs, and doing the best they possibly can, given our circumstances!” The superintendent answered, clamping a hand on Takaaki's shoulder while he was frozen in place trying to work out if it was better to admit he had no idea what they were talking about, or just try and guess which way he should answer. _“Right,_ Takaaki…?”

“O-of course!” Takaaki agreed, trying to think of _something_ to add so he wouldn’t come across as a total idiot. “I… wouldn’t be working here if it _wasn’t!”_

“Haha! Of course!” His boss laughed too loudly at his banal statement. “Anyway I'm sure Ish... Takaaki has a _lot_ of hard work he needs to get on with, so no more questions for _him...”_

With that, his boss thankfully turned him by the shoulder and lead him through the front door, pausing for just a second to whisper “For _fucks_ sake, Ishimaru, _try_ to act like a normal person on your way out!” before heading back to deal with the clamour of noise coming from the press...

Act like a normal person... A normal person would probably _know_ why his son's name was apparently in the news, wouldn't he? But how the hell was he going to find _that_ out, without making it obvious they weren’t talking right now...?

The answer to that ended up being a random newspaper, which had been carelessly thrown on one of the breakroom chairs sometime before Takaaki went on his rarely-taken morning break. There’d be nothing odd about him picking up a free newspaper and idly flicking through it, right? And even if there was, no one was here to see him do it anyway...

He started at the back. Whatever Kiyotaka had done it can’t have been anywhere _near_ as newsworthy as the airport bombing... In fact, it seemed like it wasn’t even important enough to be _in_ the paper at all! He’d probably have to try and find a local paper, if they even made those anymore...

Or so he thought, until he got to the final page before the front cover...

It was a full two pages with various pictures from the airport, but the first and only part that caught his attention was a picture of his _son,_ fierce and yelling whoever else was in the picture.. _._

 _What the hell was Kiyotaka’s picture doing there!? He_ didn’t have anything to do with the bombing at the… at the…

_(“_ _Father! I’m at the air…”)_

_…Oh._

He… He’d been at the _airport_ Friday night… That’s what he’d tried to say, before Takaaki had cut him off, assuming he’d be giving the same old greeting as usual. And if Kiyotaka had gone on a weekend trip, he’d have probably come back Sunday afternoon, when the bombs had gone off…

_He’d been at the airport when the bombs had gone off…_

Takaaki had to take a moment to check the picture again… His son looked… _terrible._ But not _injured._ Just… _messy._ There were dark stains on his clothes and something that might have been food around his mouth, but no visible cuts in his clothes or bruises on his skin…Thank goodness…

But then why was he in the _news!?_

Checking the caption on the photo was Takaaki’s next move… _“Hope’s Peak students Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Sakura Oogami…”_ Right, he’d met her, she was the woman in the picture who looked like she was holding Kiyotaka upright… Why had she needed to do that…? Right, the caption! _“…Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Sakura Oogami have an altercation with long-running Diet member Masanori Tochikura…”_

Urg… _that_ guy! Looking at the picture again, Takaaki remembered him coming to the house to talk with his father… He’d hated having to ignore the man’s rude comments about, well, _everything!_ But it’s not like he could have just back-talked one of the most influential politicians in the country, even _if_ he was a complete and utter _prick_ to everyone else…

But according to this, it looked like Kiyotaka had done exactly that, probably ruining any sense of respectability Hope’s Peak might have given him by yelling at the man over... over…

Takaaki finally finished reading the whole caption… _“Hope’s Peak students Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Sakura Oogami have an altercation with long-running Diet member Masanori Tochikura over the latter’s comments about airport staff and police work ethic.”_

 _…Police work ethic._ In other words, Tochikura had been bitching about how the police ‘with their cushy jobs’ could have ‘let this happen’, just like Takaaki had remembered him doing all those years ago, and Kiyotaka had lost his temper and stepped in to defend them…

…Or probably, in Kiyotaka’s mind, _defend Takaaki…_

“… _Idiot_ …” He couldn’t help but sigh. Of course he loved how supportive Kiyotaka was of him and his work! Who _wouldn’t!?_ But he’d taught the boy that there was a time and place for that kind of…!

“You mean that politician, right?” Takaaki looked up from the newspaper with a start at the sound of one of the younger cops, who must have been sat watching him staring at the paper for who-knows how long! “What a _bastard_ … Bitching about when the plane’s leaving after it’s been _bombed_ and _fifty_ people died!”

“Err… _yes.”_ Was _that_ what he’d done!? Maybe it wouldn’t be a complete blow to Kiyotaka’s career if people knew Tochikura had been _that_ ridiculous, especially as the man was getting on in years and might even have _left_ before Kiyotaka tried to run for office… But on the other hand, _this_ cop was barely older than Kiyotaka himself. Some new recruit who’d transferred in from out of town and had even bothered to introduce himself to Takaaki, before the other guys had taken him aside and explained why no one ever spoke to Takaaki here. He probably had no idea how the world really worked…

“Good that your kid was there, right?” The young guy still chattered on, under the assumption that Takaaki actually understood what he was talking about, “Well… Not for _him!_ Or _you!_ But… y’know… with him being the first person to get down there and help, and all…”

 _What!?_ Why would _he_ have been the first person on the scene after a bomb had gone off!? Shouldn’t the bomb squad have cleared it!? Oh, wait… with the way the media loved to report things… “You mean _after_ the bomb squad checked over the site.”

“…No. I mean… Everything’s saying he pushed past the gate guards right after the bombs went off…”

“He did _WHAT!?”_ What was he _thinking!?_ Hadn’t he ever been listening when Takaaki had told him how they’d always have to wait on the sidelines if there was _any_ chance of explosives being present in the area, let alone if one had already gone off! What the hell made him think _him_ going down there was a good idea!?

The younger cop just stared at him in confusion. “…Didn’t he tell you?”

“N-no! I…” Takaaki stopped himself from finished that sentence with ‘…’m not talking to him right now’ and tried to think of a more… _normal_ explanation. “I… I…”

“Ah… I guess he probably didn’t want you to worry, huh…?”

“Ah… Yes!” Takaaki agreed, glad to have had his question answered for him. “Yes, he… _does_ tend to hide things if he thinks they’ll… _worry_ me… Hahaha…”

“Heh… Sounds like a good kid.” The other guy laughed, downing the last of his coffee and getting up to leave. “You must be proud, huh?”

“Y-yes! Of course!” Takaaki agreed instinctively, as the young cop gave him a wave and headed outside the room. “Who wouldn’t be!?”

… _Him,_ apparently. _He_ wouldn’t be proud of his son. Otherwise they’d be _talking_ and Takaaki wouldn’t have been completely _blindsided_ by the news of his son having rushed to help people in need…

But _no_! That _wasn’t_ true! Of _course_ he was proud of Kiyotaka! He’d always worked hard and been helpful and done _fantastically_ in school! And he’d even now started making friends, which’d help him stop being quite so… _grating_ on other people! Takaaki was just not talking to him because he needed him to understand that he was… making a _terrible_ mistake in having _anything_ to do with that _fucking biker!_

And it _was_ a big mistake, right? He was Kiyotaka’s _father,_ he’d know better than _anyone_ what was best for him! Even _if_ 33% of the populations being homophobic was _less_ than he’d expected, and a trip to the library had confirmed it to be correct… Right?

But, what if there _was_ a chance he was wrong? That he’d just… not only lost his temper and _hit his own son_ , but done it for no goddamn good reason whatsoever…?

“…Dammit…” Takaaki sighed out loud again, though not before checking that no one else was in the breakroom this time. The more he thought about everything, the worse his own actions seemed. Especially how he was handling it _now,_ when he didn't even have the excuse of being shocked into anger anymore. He… he should’ve at least given Kiyotaka the chance to speak, and argued against it, instead of just childishly telling him not to call again. And he hadn't even apologised for any of it...

Still… Kiyotaka was stubborn and persistent. He’d be sure to ring again on Friday. It would give Takaaki a chance to apologise for the things he shouldn’t have done, and perhaps being willing to admit _that_ would make _Kiyotaka_ more likely to listen to him when he tried to talk _him_ out of the things _he_ shouldn’t be doing…

(Friday, September 21st 2012)

Why did the time have to drag so much when he was looking forward to talking to Kiyotaka this week… He could have sworn it’d been at least five minutes since he’d checked his watch _last_ time at 7:56, but there was still no call from his son.

Still, it gave him a little more time to think about what he was going to say. First he’d say that he’d seen the reports and was glad Kiyotaka was safe, but he really should be more careful of bombs in the future. Then he’d _also_ apologise for getting violent at the party and telling his son not to speak to him again. Then he’d ask Kiyotaka how everything was going for _him…_ how he was feeling after the attack, whether the student council vote was going well (or… had gone well? Maybe he shouldn’t have burnt that letter…) how he was coping with the new classes…

That should be enough _safe_ topics for him and Kiyotaka to chat about. He’d decided he wouldn’t bring up the biker himself. And to just try and bite his tongue if Kiyotaka mentioned him off hand…

He just hoped that Kiyotaka would be willing to have a week where they just… _spoke_ again, and… had an unspoken agreement to disagree about the biker for a while.

Then again, who knew with Kiyotaka. He might take Takaaki’s agreeability as a sign that he’d relented and start insisting on trying to get to speak to the _gangster_ as…

“What are _you_ still doing here!?”

Takaaki’s train of thought was knocked off-track by the voice of the guy who usually took this desk _after_ him. But… “What do you mean, it’s only…” Takaaki checked his watch…

_8:17._

“Err…” _8:17!?_ But… that was _after_ the time Kiyotaka was meant to ring him… And 15 minutes after he was officially off-shift! “Sorry! I… guess I lost track of the time… Just give me a minute…”

Takaaki quickly packed up and made his way out of the station, still confused as to what had happened. Sure, Kiyotaka had occasionally been _late_ to phone him… but not _miss_ the call entirely!

Had he… had he _really_ taken Takaaki’s order not to call seriously!? Even _after_ he’d been involved in that bombing!? Did he really think Takaaki was _that_ angry with him, that he wouldn’t want to talk after _that…? And_ the nice things he’d seen videos of both Kiyotaka _and_ the occasional up-and-coming back-bencher saying about _him!?_

Takaaki had thought the boy would be more… determined to talk to him than _that!_ And would have _known_ Takaaki would have been worried about him after seeing he'd been attacked in the _news!_ And even if he couldn't have _called,_ he could have written a _letter,_ to let Takaaki know he was alright, couldn't he!? But he hadn't... Had Kiyotaka _really_ given up on him after just _one_ attempt at talking…?

No, surely not! Maybe he’d just decided to give Takaaki some space to calm down... or maybe even a taste of his own medicine… He’d could understand his son wanting to be a little _petty_ after what had happened to him last weekend… Or maybe _that_ was why Kiyotaka hadn’t rung! The poor boy might still be in shock!

Either way, Kiyotaka would be sure to try calling again _next_ week!

(Friday, September 28th 2012)

Takaaki… well, it was less a case of ‘checked his watch’ and more a case of ‘had been obsessively staring at the damn thing for the last ten minutes’.

And all it had done was cement the fact that it _really_ didn’t seem like Kiyotaka _was_ going to try calling again this week, as the minute hand ticked over to 10 past…

Was he doing this because he _hated_ Takaaki now, or was it just because wanted to respect his order…? How the _hell_ could he find out, if the boy didn’t call! It’s not like he could just phone the payphone and ask whoever was around to pick it up!

But… perhaps he _could_ ring the school’s _offices_ and ask _them_ to pass on a message to his son! That way at least he’d know if Kiyotaka really _was_ that angry with him…

But he didn’t know the school’s number, and he’d left it too late to use the phone regardless! Damnit, now he was going to have to wait _another_ week to try again… Unless he sent a letter...

(Friday, 5th October 2012)

_“Hello, Hope’s Peak student office, how may I help you?”_

Takaaki breathed a sigh of relief that the phone had been picked up so quickly. He’d not left himself much time to actually speak to them... He'd been _sure_ Kiyotaka would have rang _him_ again after seeing his letter! He'd apologised to Kiyotaka, reminded Kiyotaka that he loved him, and even said he was willing not to argue about the biker, if Kiyotaka was willing to make sure it didn't become public knowledge! What more did the boy _want!?_

Who knew...? Who knew if Kiyotaka had even _read_ the letter? Which was why he was on the phone to his school now, trying to figure out how to explain himself, without making it obvious that he’d had a _fight_ with Kiyotaka…?

“Err… Yes. I… I’m Takaaki Ishimaru, Kiyotaka’s father…” And introduction was the most obvious way to start, “I, err… My son hasn’t called me in a couple of weeks, like he usually would, and I just wanted to make sure everything’s alright…?”

He hoped that sounded more like a confused and concerned parent, than someone who was backtracking on an order to cut-off contact…

“Ahh… _Ishimaru._ Right.” Was it just him, or did the woman seem to… recognise the name more quickly than she should have. Had she been given specific orders about him? Had Kiyotaka told the school staff that they’d been arguing…? In which case this woman might just be about to pass on a message telling him to _fuck off…_ “I can tell you that your son is doing absolutely fine! There’s no reason for you to worry!”

“Ah… _Thank you!”_ It wasn’t much, but at least the staff didn’t seem to be aware that anything was going on between them. “Err.. but would you mind letting him know that I’d appreciate a call? If he’s not too busy, that is?”

“…Of course. We’ll pass that message along to him, so he can call you!” The woman told him, cheerfully. “If he wants to, of course.”

“Err… _yes.”_ Takaaki agreed, as his stomach sank and he prepared to hang up the phone. “Thank you for your help!”

 _‘If he wants to…’_ And it had sounded like she was smirking as she said it…

Kiyotaka _had_ told them, hadn’t he…? He might not have told them to say anything _rude_ about it… but he _had_ told them… How embarrassing!

Well… he could only hope that the fact that Takaaki had made the effort to try and get a message to him would mollify Kiyotaka enough to make him call _next_ Friday…

(Friday, 12th October 2012)

_8:01…_

_8:02…_

_8:03…_

_8:04…_

_Still_ no call from Kiyotaka! He’d just completely ignored the message as well!? Even Takaaki hadn’t just completely ignored _his_ message! Was his son just planning to _ignore_ him forever!?

…Surely Kiyotaka wouldn’t be _that_ cruel… Unless maybe the _biker_ had suggested he do it… But even _then,_ it wasn’t like Kiyotaka to just… _do_ something like completely ignore a message!

…Assuming he actually _got_ the message, that was. There was always the possibility that Hope’s Peak student office was as bad as the precinct’s salary department. And that woman _had_ been a little quick to add ‘if he wants to’ to the end of the offer to get Kiyotaka to ring him. Maybe she’d been planning not to bother with the message and to use that as an excuse! He should ring them up again and ask about it, just to be sure… And if not he could try sending another letter...

_8:05…_

_8:06…_

Why was it taking so long for them to pick up this time…? They’d answered straight away last week!

_8:07…_

_8:08…_

Oh come on! He’d been waiting _four minutes_ now! And they didn’t even have any kind of queue system or answer machine to deal with calls!?

_8:09…_

_8:10…_

This was ridiculous now! Unless he’d caught the woman on her break, or _something…_ But she’d been there _last_ week!

_8:11…_

_8:12…_

…Could it be it wasn’t being picked up _intentionally?_ Had they decided to screen his calls? Why would they do that!? Would… would _Kiyotaka_ have _asked_ them to do something like that…?

_8:13…_

_8:14…_

No! Surely not! He was far too direct for that kind of thing. He’d have either told the office to tell Takaaki to stop calling, or he’d have just rung Takaaki and done it himself!

_8:15…_

But whatever had happened, it was too late to talk now… He’d just have to wait until _next_ week to try and hear his son again…

(Saturday 13th October 2012)

Takaaki walked to work, once again trying not to think about Kiyotaka, _or_ why Hope’s Peak hadn’t even _picked up the damn phone this time!_

 _Surely,_ they couldn’t be _that_ understaffed to have left a phone ringing for _10_ _minutes straight!_ But then why _else_ would they have not have picked it up? Unless Kiyotaka really _had_ had them block his number…

Was his son really just… planning _never_ to talk to him again? To not even give him a _chance_ to apologise!? Just for him having reacted badly and needing a couple of weeks to calm down after Kiyotaka sprung a nasty surprise on him!? After he’d spent _sixteen years_ raising the boy!? He’d half a mind to give up and _let_ the boy ignore him!

Except he’d barely had _one_ friendly conversation all month, and that had just been _because_ of Kiyotaka anyway…

For now, he was just going to have to try and distract himself again, starting with today’s headlines in shop windows (‘Mass Deaths at Hope’s Peak!’) and then getting into work and…

and…

…

… _what did that say…?_

Takaaki stopped and walked back to the shop window to check… There it was, in black and white. ‘Mass Deaths at Hope’s Peak!’

_But that’s where KIYOTAKA was…!_

Minutes later, Takaaki was stood back outside the shop, hands trembling as he tried to understand what the paper he’d just bought was actually _saying..._

‘Shocking images as the _entire_ Reserve Course commits suicide _en masse_ …’ Kiyotaka wasn’t _in_ the Reserve Course, but hadn’t he helped set up their council…? ‘…after invading the school and murdering most of the students and faculty…’ _Most_ of…!? Did that include _Kiyotaka_ or _not…!?_ ‘…amid accusations that the school caused the deaths of the student council!’ …Kiyotaka said he was planning to join the council… but… _did he or not!? GODDAMNIT why couldn’t this paper just have a list of NAMES so he’d know if his SON was alright or NOT…!?_

“Hey…”

 _“ARGH!”_ Takaaki recoiled backwards at the shock of having someone grab his shoulder while he’d been focused on the paper…

“Ah! Sorry!” It… it was that young kid from work… the one who’d said Kiyotaka was a good kid… “I just… I saw you stood there and… you’re not usually late… What’s happened…?”

“Th-there… i-it’s…” He couldn’t say it… he didn’t want the paper that was shaking in his hands to be _real…_ And he didn’t even know what it means if it _was_ …

But the younger guy seemed to realise that the _paper had_ the answer to his questions and held it steady to read the headline… “Fucking hell… That’s… that’s where your _kid_ is, right…?” Takaaki couldn’t find a way to respond to the look of horrified pity that was being directed right at him. “Do… do you know if he’s…”

“N-no…” Finally, a question he could answer. “I… I don’t _know!”_

“Urgh… well… can you _ring_ him?”

“I… I tried last night… no answer…” That was why… Not because Kiyotaka had blocked the number… because the staff who would have picked up the phone were… were…

“And… he hasn’t tried to ring _you…”_ The young cop swallows heavily, obviously writing Kiyotaka off as he speaks…

“But… _he might not have, anyway!”_ Takaaki argued, only for the guy to stare at him pityingly again. “I mean… We… We had an argument… We’ve not spoken in a month…”

Wait… why the hell was he telling this guy this!? It was none of _his_ business… it wasn't like _he’_ could tell Takaaki if Kiyotaka was alright or not! The only way he could know for sure is if there was a list of survivors, or if he went to Hope’s Peak himself and…

“…I need to go to Hope’s Peak.” Takaaki repeated to himself, out loud. That was it. He just needed to go. _Now._ “Tell them I’m not coming in…”

“… _Wait!”_ The kid grabbed his arm just as he turned to head to the train station.

 _“I just found out my SON might be DEAD!”_ Takaaki wheeled on him. _“I’m not…!”_

 _“I’ll drive you there!”_ The kids pointed to the side, where a patrol car was idling…

“What? Why…?” Takaaki blinked at the offer. “You can’t just leave while you’re…”

“You’re in no state to drive…” The guy insisted, pushing Takaaki towards the car before he could point out that he’d intended to get a train. “And you’ve got a good kid…”

_Please let that still be true…_

“…Thanks.” Takaaki nodded and let himself into the passenger side, while his colleague made his way to the driver’s seat and, once he was done fiddling with his Sat-Nav system, pushed the car into gear and starts driving.

Takaaki’s hands flexed awkwardly in the silence, causing a rustle that reminded him that he was still clutching at the newspaper… Well, perhaps there’d be _something_ in here that’d help him tell if Kiyotaka’s alright. Or at least, he might understand what was happening a little better…

It didn’t help. The only good news was that there’s _no_ news about Kiyotaka or any of his class, even though the list of student council members who were murdered was listed and there was a whole spread of gruesome images of those Reserve kids lying dead in groups that had all decided to use the same methods to…

“Fucking hell… I can’t believe they printed those…” The pictures seemed to have caught his driver’s attention.

Not that he cared about press standards right now. His only thought was still… “Kiyotaka’s not in any of them…”

“Err… right.” Takaaki was vaguely aware that he’d being patted on the arm as he turned to the next page. “Well, I’m gonna get some petrol and stuff. You just sit here for a moment, got it?”

“Sure…” Takaaki looked up just long enough to notice that they’d pulled into a gas station at some point, then looked back down to glance over another page full of dead Reserve Course students…

This wasn’t helping… there was nothing in here about which of the _Ultimates_ are dead, aside from the council students who apparently died the same night as that airplane bombing (Which people were suggesting might have been a stunt by Hope’s Peak to draw attention away from their lack of student council) So, he really _was_ going to have to wait until they got to the school to find out if he was ever going to be able to talk to his _son_ again…

He might _never_ be able to talk to his son again… And the last thing he’d said was that he _didn’t_ want to talk anymore. What the hell had he been _thinking!?_ The last month had been _awful_ and he’d not even had anyone to talk about it to, because he’d told the _one_ person who _cared_ enough to _let_ him talk that he didn’t _want to! Why the FUCK had he been so STUPID about this!?_

Alright, so his son had made a _terrible_ mistake in having _anything_ to do with that biker, let alone _dating him,_ but… What the hell had cutting him out of his life done!? It sure as hell hadn’t changed Kiyotaka’s mind at all… if anything it had probably made his son feel _less_ inclined to listen! All it could _possibly_ have was protect _Takaaki’s_ reputation, and what the hell did _that_ matter!? What was the point of a ‘family name’ if he didn’t have a goddamn _family_ in the first place!?

He wasn’t a religious man but… _Please. Just please let Kiyotaka still be alive. Please give him another chance to talk to his son! PLEASE!_

It was as he broke down crying that he heard the door to the car opening up, though his colleague didn’t try to say anything. He just set the car back in motion as Takaaki sobbed into the paper for who knows how long.

 _“Haa… haa… haa… *sniff*”_ Eventually he managed to compose himself enough to sit back upright. “I… I’m sorry about that…I just…” He trailed off… it’s probably obvious why he was crying anyway, he didn’t need to _say_ it.

Though it was odd that he wasn't getting any kind of response from the other other policeman…

“Did you…?” Takaaki turned to face the man… only to find that it wasn't a _man_ sat in the driver’s seat, it… it was a…

…giant white teddy bear!? What the _hell!?_ Was he… was he _dreaming!?_ Why _else_ would there me a giant teddy-bear mascot thing calmly driving the car instead of young lad from before? Maybe this whole morning had just been a _nightmare_ … a nightmare warning him not to be such an idiot about _Kiyotaka…!_

 _“Upupupupupu…”_ The… bear thing suddenly made a noise, almost like it was _laughing_ at him, as it slowly turned to face him, revealing that the left side of it was actually black with a red jagged eye.

Nightmare or _not,_ Takaaki wanted nothing to do with _this_ thing!

His first instinct was to recoil backwards, remove his seatbelt and try to roll out of the side of the car, but his attempt to open the door just left him frantically pawing at the handle, as the door itself was jammed shut! His next thought was to look back up to see what the _thing_ was doing now, followed by the idea that he should pull his gun on the damn thing… But he was immediately stopped from trying as it’s left hand let go of the steering wheel and moved towards him far faster than he’d expected possible for such a big padded costume…

 _“Argh!”_ It was far sharper than he’d expect of a padded costume to! He barely even _noticed_ the claws that cut through his arm, making him drop the gun before he even got a chance to use it.… and _that_ left him too distracted to notice that the paw was heading back towards his _neck_ until it was too late to dodge…

 _“Urr kkkCK!”_ A sharp chocking noise escaped him as the paw slammed his neck against the passenger window and kept _pushing_ , while the bear didn’t even _look_ at Takaaki as he desperately trying to force his hands up _under_ the paw so he could force it off of him and _breathe!_

But it was too strong… or maybe Takaaki’s arm was too weak… or maybe it was because his whole body was becoming weak from the lack of _air…_ His vision was already starting to go blurry and dark around the edges…

But… this _couldn’t_ be it…

He…

He needed…

To find out…

What…

Happened…

To…

_Kiyotaka…?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! There will be updates as to what's happening with Takaaki once the main story with Taka and Mondo catches up to him, but if it's not obvious, this is him getting kidnapped and made a Captive.


	2. Compassionate Leave part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's word count is 30000. The rest of this fic is unlikely to be written anywhere near as quickly as this chapter was, as I had a week off work to do nothing but write.  
> Also as a warning there is are a couple of depictions of a panic attack (One from the POV of the person having it), and mentions of blood (but not too much in the way of descriptions) in this chapter.  
> The length of the chapters in this fic might be go up and down drastically in the future, because I was originally planning to write four different fics (each with different chapter lengths), but have now decided to lump them all together into this instead, splitting them up into parts when it seems appropriate (As I have with this one).  
> Also I apologise in advance for how little focus Kyoko, Junko and Mukuro get in this. I wanted to make this reasonably compatible with DR:Zero, but I also have trouble understanding what exactly is going on with those three in that book.

(Monday, September 17th 2012)

“We have now arrived at Hope’s Peak, young sir and miss.”

 _“Already!?”_ Kiyotaka opened his eyes with a start at the sound of Togami’s butler’s voice from the front of the limousine. It barely seemed like a minute ago that he’d finished leaving a message to the school saying that they’d be slightly late to their morning classes as a result of… _yesterday_ , and then he’d decided to rest his eyes for a moment…

He’d _meant_ to use this time to carry on reading ahead in his textbook! Instead, he must have just passed out for three hours…

“I’m glad I was able to make the trip a restful one for you both, after yesterday.” Kiyotaka jumped slightly as the butler suddenly opened the door next to him.

“Err… _both_ of us…?” He asked, turning to look at Sakura…

She almost looked like she was meditating… except she was slouching backwards into the overly-cushioned chairs, and her head wasn’t up as straight as normal.

Well, that was good! He’d wasn’t sure she’d managed to sleep at _all_ last night! At least _he’d_ managed to drift off for an hour or two after watching the news… He’d had a nice dream about getting a dog with Mondo… At least, it had started that way… Before he’d realised the Dalmatian they’d bought was all black on one side and white on the other, and actually a bear, and…

“Yes, young sir. The young lady fell asleep shortly after yourself.” Togami’s butler thankfully stopped his mind from starting to go backwards over the events of yesterday again as he opened the door on Sakura’s side. “However… I’m afraid I’m going to need to humbly request your assistance in waking her, while I go and take your bags to your rooms...”

“Oh… Don’t worry about that! It’s no problem at all!” Kiyotaka assured the man.

“Thank you, sir…” The butler bowed and headed towards the back of the car to get their things out…

…Wait, why was _he_ the one saying ‘thanks’ when _he_ was about to haul all of Kiyotaka’s things through the school!? How had he managed to make it seem like Kiyotaka was doing _him_ a favour!? He’d have to try and wake Sakura quickly and catch up to the man!

“Sakura…?” Kiyotaka tried calling her name, to no response. “Sakura…!”

“Hmm…?” A gentle shake to her shoulder seemed to do the trick. “Ah… Kiyotaka? What’s…”

“We’re back at Hope’s Peak…” He explained, “We both slept through the journey…”

“I see…” Sakura blinked heavily and stretched her arms out forward, “That is something, at least…”

“Yes…” Kiyotaka agreed. As much as it would have been good to study, if he _had_ to fall asleep during the day, it was better to do it _now,_ instead of _during_ class! “And hopefully we’ll sleep better once we’re in our own beds tonight!”

“Hmm… Do you mean _after_ you spend the day in class?” Sakura asked worriedly as she moved to get out of the car. Why _wouldn’t_ class be on…? “…I believe _most_ people would request some time off to recover, after such an event.”

 _“Oh…”_ She had a point. If anyone _else_ had gone through a traumatic event, he wouldn’t have expected them to be back in class straight afterwards. But… “I had time to rest last night, but I just spent it thinking about what happened… I think I’d rather… try and distract myself, today.”

“Very well… so long as you do not merely ignore your mental health.” Sakura looked less worried as they both stood up on opposite sides of the limousine, but still worried. “It seemed that you had a more harrowing experience than myself… actually going _on_ the plane.”

“Err…” He honestly wasn’t sure if it was _that_ much worse than what _she_ would have seen helping people down the stairs… All he’d done was just get _on_ the plane… and see all the mess… and blood… and people crying for help… and _barely_ being able to do anything _to_ help… and…

“…Kiyotaka…!?” Sakura’s voice and a hand on his arm brought him back to reality enough that he managed to squeeze his eyes shut and shake the memories out of his head.

“P-perhaps you’ve got a point…” If nothing else, he could do with some advice on how to stop himself from just _remembering_ it all. “…I’ll ask the school if I can speak to a therapist about it…”

“Yes… That is a good idea.” Sakura agreed. “I think I would like to have someone to discuss this with as well…”

She did!? In that case he should probably organise it as soon as possible… “Well, we’re already late for our first class, so we can do it after we put the bags back in our rooms…”

... _AH!_ He’d meant to try and catch up with the butler! But now they’d spent so long getting out of the car and talking, that by now the man would probably be…

…Stood outside the front door, holding the bags and waiting patiently for them to stop dallying and catch up him?

“Yes, though I’m surprised Pennyworth did not already take them in for us…” Sakura nodded, probably remembering that the butler had absolutely _insisted_ on taking their bags from the hotel room this morning, even though Kiyotaka had told him he could have done it himself...

“Err… _yes._ He _said_ that’s what he was going to do…” Kiyotaka told her quietly, as they approached him.

“My apologies, young sir and miss…” The butler bowed again, “But it seems that your school is operating under increased security this morning, and I am not being allowed in, even to carry your bags for you…”

“That’s odd…” Kiyotaka admitted, holding his hands out to take his back. “B-but it’s no problem! We’ve been carrying them ourselves all weekend, after all!”

“Very well, young sir…” The butler nodded reluctantly, _and_ looked very concerned as Kiyotaka took his own suitcase. Hopefully _not_ because he’d seen Kiyotaka wince as his still-sore stomach muscles screamed in protest at carrying the extra weight... “And here you go, young miss.”

“Err… actually that…” Kiyotaka tried to point out that the Shinai that the butler was now handing to Sakura along with her rucksack was actually _his._

“Thank you.” Unfortunately, Sakura cut him off and took it anyway. And he had a feeling she wasn’t going to be giving it _back_ until they got to their rooms… “You’ve been a great help.”

“Err… _yes!_ Thank you for everything!” Kiyotaka agreed, mentally scolding himself for not having remembered to thank the butler properly without prompting.

“Your welcome, give my regards to the young master for me.” The butler bowed one last time, before turning to the side so they could walk to the door…

Kiyotaka noticed that he stayed there for a while, watching as they showed the guard their student IDs and also had to have their _fingerprints_ checked in order to get inside the building, but then turned to leave as soon as they were both allowed through the door itself.

“You’ll both need to go straight to the gym.” The guard told them. “There’s an all-student assembly taking place this morning.”

 _“What!?”_ Kiyotaka hadn’t heard _anything_ about that! Had he missed a message he was supposed to pass on to everyone else…!? What if no one in their class showed up because of it…!? “When was _that_ announced!?”

“About 30 minutes ago.” Oh good… No one could blame him for missing a message that went out when he wasn’t _there!_ But why would they announce an assembly at such short notice?

“…Is this related to the increase in security?” Sakura as him.

“...That’ll be explained in the assembly.” The guard told her, shifting his eyes sideways. “Now go on… they’re probably all waiting for you both.”

“Ah! Right, of course!” Kiyotaka nodded quickly and started making his way to the gym. Of _course_ they’d all be waiting for them, him and Sakura were over half an hour _late_ for class…!

Sakura took a moment to catch up with him, but then easily matched his pace as they made their way to the gym, even though she looked very concerned…

“…You’re worried?”

“I… I wonder if the increase in security is because of the explosion…”

What? Why would the school increase security because of that? Unless… “Wait… do you think the bomb at the airport was there to hurt _us!?”_ Sakura looked surprised at the question, as if it was an obvious thing to think… _Was_ it the obvious answer!? That they’d been trying to kill him and Sakura…? “But then… that means… all those people who died… They’d have died just because… just because _I_ was on the plane… or _should_ have been on it…”

...The news this morning said the death count as at _fifty_ now. _Fifty_ people dead, because he’d gone on a plane instead of staying at school all weekend like he usually would…

 _Fifty_ people dead, because of hi…

“ _No_ … I _doubt_ it was because of us…” Sakura grabbed his shoulder insistently. “I merely wondered if perhaps the _school_ being overly-cautious and working on the basis that someone might be targeting us…”

“Oh…! Oh _right…!”_ Of course… that made _much_ more sense than someone _actually_ wanting to kill him or Sakura, didn’t it? “W-well… I guess we’ll see in the assembly!”

…It… it wasn’t like there was any reason for anyone to try and kill him, was there? Before this weekend, hardly anyone had ever even _heard_ of him, aside from knowing who his grandfather was, and no one had ever tried to _kill_ him over that! The only other notable thing he’d done was saving Haneyama, and he’d have thought people would _like_ him for _that!_

Yes… that was right! There was no reason for anyone to want to kill him, so it couldn’t _possibly_ be him that had been the target of those bombs! So… it _wasn’t_ his fault _…_ The school was just being cautious… if that _was_ even the reason they’d upped security!

He picked up his pace a little, eager to get to the assembly and find out for sure what was going on. Not that that stopped Sakura from being able to pull far enough ahead of him to hold open the door to the gym for him, meaning everyone waiting in the gym would probably think he couldn’t even _open_ _a_ _door_ without h…

“SAKURA!”, “It’s _them!”, “TAKA!”_ , “Why are you carrying your own bags!? Where the hell is _Pennyworth…!?_ I _told_ him…!” _,_ “You’re _back!”_

Kiyotaka’s feet froze at the sight of all his friends standing right at the entrance to the gym, as they all quickly went from anxious pacing to excited cheering as they saw him and Sakura, and Mondo almost knocked Makoto over as he ran towards Kiyotaka…

“Holy fucking _shit_ I’m glad you’re alright…!” Mondo ran up to him and wrapped his arms around Kiyotaka. “I mean, I _know_ you were alright and there’s no real reason ya wouldn’t have got back _safe_ , but…”

There was a loud crash as Kiyotaka dropped his suitcase in surprise, and Mondo’s hug was so tight it _hurt,_ especially where he was bruised… But he didn’t _care._ All he could think was that Mondo was _here,_ and he was back _home,_ and it was _safe_ now, or _he_ was safe now, but there’d been so many people who _weren’t,_ and if the first plane hadn’t been delayed he might have been one of them, and he wouldn’t have been able to meet up with Mondo again, but he _was_ here with Mondo now and he didn’t ever want to be away from him again…

“…I’ve still been worried ‘bout you and… _Oof!”_ Mondo’s voice was cut short as Kiyotaka gave into the urge to pull him closer, grab him _tight_ and _never_ let go, which only caused Mondo to hold him all the harder as Kiyotaka opened his mouth and tried to find words to say how much he’d missed Mondo and glad he was to see him and how _horrible_ it had been and how much he wished he’d done better and could fix it and that he couldn’t actually _find_ any words for all the different things he was feeling at once…

* * *

“That’s all the students here… Shouldn’t you be starting the assembly now?” One of the steering committee sat near him on the stage asked quietly, as Ishimaru started sobbing loudly into his boyfriend’s shirt and Oogami let go of Asahina and pulled in Naegi, Fujisaki and Kyoko for her second hug.

Ignoring the fact that it wasn’t quite _all_ the students, as they didn’t know where the Ultimate Fashionista was… “They just got back from seeing a terrorist attack…” Jin reminded him, “We can give them a few minutes…”

The man harrumphed at him and turned away… “…Completely inconsequential, compared to what’s happened _here_ …”

Perhaps it was… it certainly felt that way to Jin, but… “Some of the students might not see it that way…”

The whole steering committee just looked at Jin as if he was being delusional. As if you’d have to be a complete and utter fool to care more about the deaths of fifty members of the general population than…

…than the deaths of all but one of Hope’s Peak student council.

Jin tired his best to remain impassive as his thoughts brought him back to the utterly horrific scene that had been found in the student council meeting room. It wouldn’t do to make it obvious that something terrible had happened before the assembly even started, especially as several of the more observant students had already noticed that the council were all missing. He probably _should_ start the explanation before anyone began to make guesses about what was going on… But he couldn’t bring himself to do it quite yet. Between his reluctance to break up the happy scene his daughter was in, and his desire to pretend there was no _reason_ for this assembly, waiting a few more minutes seemed like the reasonable thing to do…

But eventually Ishimaru’s sobs quietened down and Jin realised that some of class 76 students were beginning to ask each other about whether they’d seen certain council members this morning…

 _“A-hem…!”_ Jin started to get the attention of the students by coughing into the mic, trying to ignore the reproachful look Kyoko gave him as Ishimaru broke out of his hug with Oowada and started herding the rest of their class over to their section of seats.

“I realise you all must be curious as to why we’ve announced an emergency assembly at such short notice…” Jin started, once all the students had sat down and were paying attention. “However, before I begin, I must stress that, due to the potential risk to the school that this information poses, _any_ student who is found to discuss this with _anyone_ outside of the school will be _immediately_ expelled from Hope’s Peak!”

He hadn’t _wanted_ to start with that, but the steering committee had insisted on making sure no one was too dazed from hearing the actual news to understand that the school was forcing a cover-up of it...

“…Does that include my mom?” …Of course, it also meant that he could be _absolutely certain_ that everyone actually _understood_ how severe this threat was…

 _“Yes,_ Hagakure, this includes your mother… It includes _all_ family, friends, trusted confidants, members of staff, followers and subjects and even _animals…_ ” Although that last part was less out of actual concern, and more to make sure Tanaka didn’t get tricked into revealing anything to a bugged animal. “Telling _anyone_ outside of the school about this will result in your _immediate expulsion.”_

Of course, the hall erupted into a mix of confusion and indignation, as half the student body tried to work out whether he was really serious, and the other half complained about such a draconian rule being put in place…

Aside from Kyoko, who was studying his face intently.

“You will understand once I’ve told you what happened.” Jin raised a hand for silence, which eventually came. “Yesterday evening, an intruder was able to enter school grounds, and launched a violent attack against the student council in their meeting room…”

 _“What!? HOW!?”,_ “Are they alright?”, “Wh…who would…?”, _“That’s_ why they’re not here…!” Jin gave the students some time to react, before raising a hand again.

“As of now, council bodyguard Isshiki Madarai is uninjured…” All eight of them. It was astounding, really, how well Kamakura had managed to avoid _everything_ that should have been protecting the council… “And Council president Sōshun Murasame is in a stable, but unresponsive, condition…” Jin saw several of the students looking upset enough over _that,_ and faltered over what he had to say next… “Unfortunately… The rest of the council members… are all dead.”

All the students broke into expressions of shock and sadness… except for the few members of class 77 whose behaviour had been become increasingly… _concerning_ over the summer. It even looked like Koizumi was busy setting up her _camera…_

“Err… Ex-excuse me, sir!?” Ishimaru’s voice drew his attention before he could be sure of what Koizumi was doing. “B-b-but are you _sure!?”_ …He had such a miserably desperate look on his face that Jin didn’t really want to answer his question, especially not by just bluntly saying ‘yes’. “I-I-I mean… Are you _sure…_ There’s no chance… _A-any_ of them…? I-I-I mean they _can’t ALL be_ …”

Ishimaru trailed off as he looked away from Jin and around at his fellow students, several of which were staring back at him in pity, before gulping and shakily taking a breath… “…Sorry.” He collapsed back down onto his seat, shamefully distraught. Jin would have thought Oowada would have tried to comfort him, but the biker looked as if he was busy trying to work out something important…

“…I didn’t want to believe it was true either.” Jin managed to think of a kinder way to answer his question. “But it’s been checked, by myself and several of the medical staff, and there’s no denying that all members of the student council, aside from Murasame, are dead.”

“… **HOW!?”** This time it was Togami who stood up, looking far-more self-assured through his fury than Ishimaru had. “How was this allowed to happen!? You say an intruder got in, _HOW!?”_

“Togami, all I can say about that is that we are increasing security as a result of this.” Jin answered, although it clearly didn’t satisfy the heir... “The information that there even _was_ a way for an intruder to enter the school poses a big enough security risk by itself, we’re certainly _not_ going to be discussing what that way _was_ with anyone who does not _need_ to know!”

 _“…Nrgg…”_ Togami let out a frustrated growl and sat back down. Not that Jin could blame him for being angry. _He’d_ want to know how the hell this had happened as well, if he didn’t already know…

“Now… obviously we will not be expecting you to attend classes this week. And we’ve arranged for extra counselling services to be available at the student support offices twenty-four hours a day.” Jin explained, as no one else seemed to have anything to say. “I suggest you take advantage of them as much as you can. Are there any more questions?”

…It didn’t seem so. Everyone was just sitting quietly, in shock…

“Uhh… Yeah, actually, I got a question!” Except Oowada, who suddenly stood up. “Didya manage to _catch_ the guy?”

 _If only… That would have made all this so much simpler…_ “The culprit behind this attack has not been identified yet…” Jin lied, “However, we are making their capture our _top_ priority.” _That_ part was true, at least. Not that it would satisfy anyone…

“Uhh… right, okay…” Oowada looked surprising understanding of the answer as he sat down and looked at his crying boyfriend with concern. Unlike a lot of the other students who started to ask questions as to _why_ they didn’t even know who the culprit _was,_ which Jin dodged by using the same ‘explaining would be a security risk’ excuse as before…

“If there are no more questions…” Jin said one final time, to no response. “Then this assembly is over. Feel free to leave in your own time…”

There was _immediately_ a loud cluster of noise as the _whole_ of class 77 stood up and walked out as if this had just been any other school assembly, much to the shock and disgust of everyone _else_ in the room. Jin could only hope _that_ class in particular decided to take up the counselling appointments… _Something_ was going on with them, but none of the staff, not even _Yukizome_ , had been able to explain _what…_

On the other hand, once class 77 had left, the other three classes sat around for a while… some people just sitting listlessly in shock or tears, others angrily asking who could do such a thing and trying to work out if they could help catch the culprit.

Kyoko… Kyoko looked like she was hallway between both, a sad look on her face, but concentration behind her eyes as she clutched at Naegi’s trembling hand. Though she didn’t seem to even _notice_ when Togami stood up and started pacing back and forth in front of her irritably, before taking one last look at all his classmates and then storming out of the hall, followed slightly later by a shaking Fukawa…

Jin wanted nothing more than to go over and hug Kyoko right now. To tell her how selfishly glad he was that the _other_ attack had interfered with her and her friends’ plans to be at the student council’s meeting room yesterday…

But a sharp tap on the arm from one of the steering committee reminded him that he had to act as headmaster of Hope’s Peak first, and Kyoko’s father second. So instead, he headed down the stage and left the gym…

“Hey… wait up sir!” They barely got out of the room before he heard Oowada running up behind him.

“If you had another question, you could have asked it during the…” One of the committee started to try and get rid of him, but Oowada probably barely even noticed the weak old men were there, let alone respected them enough to finish listening to them talking…

“Ok, yeah, but whaddaya gonna do ‘bout _Taka!?”_ Oowada asked in a rush, grabbing the lapels of Jin’s jacket and staring straight into his eyes in panic...

“Ishimaru…?” Jin couldn’t understand what he meant. Ishimaru hadn’t _done_ anything that needed dealing with… aside from getting caught up by that airplane bombing, but… “We’ve made sure that the counsellors are aware that Ishimaru might need extra help dealing with both this and…”

“I don’t mean that shit, I mean about _security!”_ Oowada snapped at him. “What’re you doing to keep him _safe!”_

“…Oowada, we’ve increased security to make sure that _all_ of the students are…” Jin tried to reiterate…

“Yeah, but they ain’t _him,_ are they!?” Oowada cut him off by shaking his suit, and Jim was quite glad to notice that doing so caught the attention of Oogami, who’d been in the middle of leading a crying Asahina out of the room. “I mean… _he’s_ the one they’re goin’ after, ain’t he!?”

It took a moment for Jin to realise where Oowada’s assumption could possibly have come from, but given there’d now been _two_ attacks that Ishimaru only avoided being caught up in by being delayed somewhere _else…_ “…Oowada, there’s no evidence to suggest that this and the airport bombing were in any way rela…”

“Oh don’t gimme that _crap,_ it’s _obvious!”_ Oowada shook him again. “They’ve tried _twice_ and they’re gonna try _again…!”_

Jin knew that wasn’t true- Kamakura had no reason to target Ishimaru. But at this rate it might be easiest to give the Moral Compass some kind of extra guard, just to put Oowada’s mind at ease…

“Mondo, wait!” His thought was cut off as Oogami finally decided to get involved and stop Oowada from shaking him around like a rag doll. “I understand your concern… But… Kiyotaka will not take it well if you suggest that the council’s deaths were part of attempt to kill _him…_ He looked distraught enough when I suggested that he and I _may_ have been the targets of the bombing...”

“Shit… Yeah… _yeah_ , you’re right. He’d just blame himself… Probably give up going near people in case _they_ got hurt…” Oowada’s brows furrowed, and he absent-mindedly put Jin back down on the floor as he thought about was Oogami was saying… “…and he’d _notice_ if there was any kind of… extra security people hanging ‘round him all the time…”

“Indeed.” Oogami nodded.

“Right… So that means _I’ve_ gotta keep him safe! ‘Cause I’m the only one who sticks close to him anyway!” Oowada decided, “Alright… I’ll keep him safe! Man’s promise!”

“Err…” Jin was sure whether it was actually a good idea to accept that offer or not. He didn’t want to feed into Oowada’s paranoia.

“…Oh _fuck!”_ Oowada took a quick look around him and swore before Jin got the chance to say one way or the other, and then he turned around and ran back into the gym, probably realising he’d left Ishimaru there ‘unprotected’…

“Ah… that was not my intention…” Oogami muttered, as she watched him leave. “I merely thought he should not say such things in front of Kiyotaka, not that _he_ should take it upon himself to protect him…”

“Hopefully Ishimaru will be able to convince him that he’s really _not_ in any danger…” Jin sighed. The glares from the steering committee were making it quite clear that he didn’t have time to try to do so himself. “Or make him go to the counselling and deal with _why_ he’s reacted like that…”

“Ah… yes, I imagine Kiyotaka will do that…” Oogami nodded, looking less concerned. “And in the meantime… come along, Hina…”

Jin took one last look into the gym at his daughter, as she continued to think and ignored the sight of Oowada dragging Ishimaru out of his chair, and then followed the steering committee to his next emergency meeting…

* * *

How could this have _happened…!?_ It was just last week that Makoto had been chatting with those guys, talking about ideas he had for the school festival in November and _other_ events he could try and put on, like a single’s event on Valentine’s, and starting a student cinema night…

…And now they were all _dead…?_ It… it seemed so weird… Heck, he’d only just spoken to the all _yesterday,_ asking if they’d mind delaying Taka and Togami’s debate…

…And if he hadn’t had to do _that,_ then him, Taka, Togami and _Kyoko_ would all have been in that room _with_ them all…

Was that why Kyoko was squeezing his hand so tight…? And why Mondo was dragging Taka out of his chair and muttering about it being _safer_ in his room…? _Geez,_ they’d almost all died! How was he gonna tell Mom and Dad about this…!?

Oh, wait… He wasn’t _allowed_ to tell them about this, was he…?

“Wh-wh-what does he _mean_ it’s safer in his room!?” Hifumi yelled all of a sudden, “I-i-isn’t it safe _here!?_ D-d-do we _all_ need to…!?”

…Oh geez… he looked _terrified!_ Then again, _no one_ who was still sat around here looked like they were in a _good_ frame of mind!

“He was already concerned about Kiyotaka’s wellbeing…” Except maybe for Celestia, who was doing a good job of covering it up if she _was_ freaked out by all of this... “It appears _this_ news has made him outright _paranoid_ about it…”

“No kidding… He’s barely just managed to admit how much he _needs_ Taka…” Leon sighed, “And then he gets told the guy’s almost been killed _twice_ in two days!? ‘Course he’s freaking out…”

“And Taka being so stunned won’t help either…” Sayaka frowned.

Oh man, that didn’t sound good. Makoto had better try and check up on them both at some point…

“B-but… I-is there any chance Oowada-dono might be _right…?”_ Hifumi squeaked.

“…I’ve not seen Junko since last night.” Mukuro suddenly spoke up, staring at her phone intently. “I thought maybe she just wanted to skip today, but she’s not responding to my texts either…”

“What!?” Aww _hell…_ They’d all be so worried about Sakura and Taka that they hadn’t even _noticed_ Junko wasn’t there! “Has _anyone_ seen her!?”

Mukuro looked around at them all, looking more worried as no one said anything… “You… you don’t think she…”

“They… they’d have _found_ her if something had happened, right?” Chihiro spoke up, “I mean… there’s _cameras_ everywhere…”

“That’s right… Maybe she just… didn’t want to come out of her room today?” Makoto tried to cheer her up, “It wouldn’t be the first time she skipped an assembly!”

“Hmm…” Mukuro thought about it, looked at her phone one last time, then stood up abruptly. “…I’m going to go look for her.”

“Ah… I’ll…!” ‘I’ll help!’ was what he was _planned_ to say, along with getting up and following her as she sped out of the room…

But as soon as he’d stood up and taken one step, he’d realised that Kyoko was _still_ gripping his hand so tight that if he tried to leave he’d end up dragging her along with him… And she wasn’t responding to anything around her either. Had she gone into shock or something…?

…He’d have to check up on Mukuro later. Hopefully she’d have found Junko by that time…

“Hey… Kyoko…?” Makoto tried to gently get her attention…

“Hmm…?” She murmured slightly at the sound of her name, and looked up at Makoto, then back down to the hand she was holding, which she let go of with an apologetic wave. “Ah… Sorry.”

Darnit, she thought he was talking to her because he wanted to _leave_ and she’d been _stopping_ him!

“Ah… No, that’s not what I meant!” Makoto assured her, sitting back down and putting his hand back on top of hers. “I just wanted to know what you’re thinking…”

She looked down briefly, considering the question, then looked up at him and everyone else. “…Whoever did this knew too much about the council to be a random intruder…”

“What!?” Makoto asked, along with everyone else… Aside from Hiro, who still wasn’t saying anything, and Sayaka who quietly muttered “I knew it…” under her breath…

“They must have gone straight to the correct room, else they’d have been caught, either by some other students, security _or_ the cameras.” Kyoko explained, “And Madarai isn’t the Ultimate Bodyguard for nothing… He was willing to guard the council with his _life,_ so him being uninjured likely means he was avoided entirely, which shouldn’t have been possible without inside knowledge of the school… It would have been almost impossible _with_ the knowledge…”

“S-so… you think they were _from_ the school!?” Hifumi cried, “Th-then they’re probably still _here!”_

“It might not be that they’re _from_ the school… just that they had _help_ from someone here…” Kyoko tried to calm him down, unsuccessfully.

“Hmm… Plus, with all the extra guards around, they’re probably not going to try and do anything for a while!” Sayaka added with a bright smile, which seemed to work a little better, “So we should be safe!”

“M-maybe…” Hifumi still looked like he just wanted to go and cower in his room for a while, not that Makoto could blame him. “…wh-what do _you_ think, Hagakura-dono…?”

Oh, right… _he_ still hadn’t _said_ anything… Although Hifumi was probably just hoping for a prediction that’d ease his mind…

“Wh-what do _I_ think…?” Hiro repeated the question with a weird undertone of anxious laughter that made everyone look at him worriedly. _“I_ think this isn’t happening!”

… _Oof!_ He… he was just in denial about it… That wasn’t good…

“Uhh, Hiro, buddy…” Leon looked like he was about to try and convince Hiro, but…

“It _can’t_ be happening! It just _can’t!_ It doesn’t make any _sense!”_ Hiro started ranting, “’Cause… why would I spend I summer having creepy predicitions about stuff that’s _not_ gonna happen, and not get a single thing about _this!?_ Why would I get predictions at _all_ if I couldn’t use ‘em to stop… to stop stuff like _this_ happening…!?”

…Oh _geez!_ Makoto hadn’t even… He’d have never had even _thought_ that Hiro should have known about this… but in _Hiro’s_ mind…

“So… so this isn’t happening! It’s just a _joke!_ Or a _nightmare!”_ Hiro carried on, as no one _else_ knew what to say to him, either… _“Yeah!_ That’s it! This is a _nightmare!_ So… I just gotta wake up!” He stood up, “I’ll just… go to sleep _here… and_ wake up in the _real_ world! ‘Cause Taka’s probably getting mad at me for oversleeping and missing _class_ right now!”

“Wait… _Hiro…!”_ Leon tried one last time to talk to him.

“See you, guys!” Hiro ignored him, walking out of the gym with a manic wave and ignoring the stares he was getting from the other classes.

 _“…Urrgghhhh…”_ Leon groaned into his hands.

“Ah… I… I didn’t…” Hifumi started stammering guiltily. “I-I-I wouldn’t have _expected_ him to…”

“I don’t believe _anyone_ would…” Celestia patted his shoulder, “Even if he _had_ had the prediction, would anyone have even _believed_ him? As Kyoko said, it was an almost impossible crime…”

 _That_ was a good point… There’d be no point having a prediction if the school just turned around and laughed at his concerns. Makoto might be able to use that to calm Hiro down… Once the guy admitted this had actually _happened,_ anyway… Makoto would have to add him to the list of people he’d have to check on, at some point.

And looking at everyone here… it’d probably be a good idea to keep tabs on them, too. As well as Sakura, Hina, Togami and Toko…

But for now… Kyoko was squeezing his hand again, and everyone around him was looking miserable, and he could hardly believe this had _happened…_ He’d only just spoken to the council _yesterday…_

* * *

Chihiro couldn’t sleep.

Usually if he couldn’t sleep, he’d just get up and _code_ something, but…

Could he really just sit and work on random projects when _that_ had happened? When thirteen students were dead and one was in a coma and no one even knew _who’d_ done it? And he couldn’t even _try_ and find out who it was, because even if Kyoko was right and they _were_ still in the school, there’s no way _he_ could have picked a fight with them! _Urggh…_ He felt so… _useless!_

…Useless and _weak…_ What was the point in training if someone could just come along and wipe out all the guys on the _council_ all at once! _And_ probably get away with it, as they hadn’t even managed to identify who it _was!_

How was that even _possible!?_ Even though _he_ knew how to spot where all the cameras _were,_ he couldn’t have got into that room without getting spotted! Was there really no footage of the killer at _all?_ How could _that_ happen…?

…Corrupted data, maybe? It’d happened once before! And _Chihiro_ had been the one to _fix_ it! But if _that_ was the case, wouldn’t they have asked Chihiro for help by now…?

…Unless they were worried that admitting it _this_ time would be a security risk… Or perhaps that Chihiro seeing the uncorrupted video would mean he’d find out _how_ the intruder had got in…

But, if that was the case, he could tell them that it was possible for him to repair the video without actually _looking_ at the video! And offer to let them watch while he did it, so they could be _sure_ he wouldn’t…

Yes! That was it! _That_ was something he could work on! He’d go right now…! This was a great idea…

…

It only took Chihiro one look at the security office, filled with people who were twice as tall _and_ broad as he was, and _all_ rushing around all over the place, for him to start thinking that maybe this _wasn’t_ a great idea after all…

But if didn’t at least _offer,_ he’d just spend all his time worrying that he _could_ have been helping and _wasn’t…_

“Umm… Excuse me…?” He approached a guy at a desk who didn’t look… _quite_ as busy and imposing as the others. “Uhh… I’m Chihiro Fujisaki, the programmer? I helped un-corrupt some data from the security cameras one time…” …The guy looked like he was _listening_ to Chihiro at least, but wasn’t saying anything. “Umm… And… I wasn’t thinking it’s kind of odd that you don’t have any security footage of the murders, and I thought if it was because it’s corrupted, then I could…”

“No… that’s not it, the data’s fine.” The guard cut him off, “It’s just that the bastard’s covered up so we can’t see who it is.”

 _“…Oh._ That’s, umm… that’s…”

 _Really obvious._ That’s what it was! Of _course_ ‘we can’t identify the culprit’ didn’t mean ‘we haven’t got _footage_ of the culprit’! It wasn’t like a _murderer_ was going to have shown his face and stuck an ID tag on his chest, was it!?

“I’m sorry… I’ll uhh… I’ll just get out of your way then…” He turned to leave. _Guess he really was useless…_

“Is that _Fujisaki!?”_ He was stopped by a deep voice from further in the office calling his name.

“Yes, Sakakura, sir!” The guard stood up and saluted, even though it sounded like the man he was talking to was in a separated room and wouldn’t have been able to see him anyway. “He was offering to help with the investigation, but…”

“Good. Bring him in here.” The voice, _Sakakura_ , ordered the guard.

“Yes, sir!” The guard looked surprised at the order, but did as he’d been told without arguing at all…

“Uhh…” _Wow…_ This guy was _huge!_ He looked stronger than _Mondo…_ He might even have more muscles than _Sakura!_ “Umm… Is there something I can help with?”

“Depends…” The guy stared down at Chihiro, even though _he_ was sat down and Chihiro was still standing. “Would you be able to trace the location an email was sent from, even if it’s been disguised with at least one VPN and proxy server?”

“Oh! Well…” Chihiro stopped to think about it, a little surprised a guy as big and strong as him had any idea what a Virtual Private Network was… “I _think_ so, though how long it’d take will depend on how good the encryption on the VPN is…”

“Alright… Come over here…” Sakakura stood up and waved Chihiro over to his computer, showing him an email with the subject heading ‘ACTION REQUIRED: The truth.’ “This is the email. It’s been designed to agitate the Reserve Course students.”

“So, it’s a different problem…?” Still… even if he couldn’t help with the murder investigation, at least he was freeing up time for someone who _could…_

“We don’t know that for sure. The timing’s too close to be a coincidence…” Sakakura argued, grabbing a thick, fluffy-collared coat off the back of the door. _“Don’t_ watch the video in there, and don’t go poking around on that computer, either! _You,_ make sure he doesn’t!” He added, talking to the guard who’d brought Chihiro in here. “I’ll be by the front gate. I want to know _as soon_ as you find out where that’s from, got it?”

“Yes, sir!” The guard saluted again, and Sakakura left the office before Chihiro could ask him if he’d mind him adjusting this chair, because it was about a foot lower than he needed it to be…

But still, at lease he was still able to be of _some_ use…

* * *

(Tuesday, September 18th 2012)

 _Urgh…_ Yasuhiro’d _finally_ woken up from that _nightmare!_ Man, what the heck had made him come up with _that!_ The whole student council getting murdered!? And then it’d felt like he’d just been trying to get to sleep so he could wake up for _hours!_ Maybe all these creepy predictions were getting to him… The school had counselling, right? Maybe he should go get some… assuming that wasn’t _only_ in his dream and not the real world… Maybe if he’d woken up early enough he could go and ask before class started. What time was it…?

11:30!? Oh _man!_ He was _so_ late for class! Taka was gonna be nagging at him all _week!_

Yasuhiro picked up his keys, checked himself in the mirror… why was he still dressed? He’d only not bothered to get undressed in the _nightmare!_ Oh well, it meant he could run out and get to class all the faster.

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m…” Yasuhiro burst through the door and found himself looking at an empty room, “…late?”

Huh? Had he missed a message about a school trip or something? Why was no one in class!? Had they all been abducted? Aww man! And he’d missed it ‘cause he overslept!

Well… He might as well go get breakfast while he waited for the aliens to bring ‘em all back…

“Ahh… Hey, _Hiro!”_ Huh? Oh hey! It was Makoto!

“Hey, Makoto! You miss the abduction to?”

“The… abduction…?” Makoto asked.

“Yeah, look!” Hiro walked him over to the classroom door and opened it. “It’s the middle of class time, and _no one’s here!_ Not even _Taka!_ That must have been aliens, right?”

“Urgh…” Makoto looked really freaked out. Was the kid scared of aliens or something? “You… Hiro, don’t you remember what happened yesterday…?”

Yesterday? Before that creepy dream…? OH! Oh _man,_ how’d he forget _that!?_ “You mean Sakura and Taka’s plane getting bombed… Oh man, I totally forgot ‘cause I had this super-whacked out dream, and…”

“Uhh… No… Hiro…” Makoto shook his head, “I… I’m talking _about_ that ‘dream’ you think you had…”

What? What was the kid _saying?_ The dream he _thought_ he had…? Was he saying…? _No way_ … “Dude… no, that _can’t_ be right… What happened in my dream was, like, _super_ messed up and not possible, dude!”

“You mean the student council being murdered…” No way! How’d Makoto know!? “Hiro… that really _did_ happen…”

_No way… it couldn’t be… this couldn’t be happening… ‘cause he’d not predicted it… and what was the point of predictions if he couldn’t stop stuff like that happening!? So it can’t have happened! This was just another nightmare… He just had to tell himself…_

“This isn’t happening… This isn’t _happening_ …This _isn’t_ happening…! _This_ _isn’t_ _happening…!”_

 _“_ Hiro _… Hiro!”_ Makoto was shaking him too much for him to keep concentrating on the truth. “I’m sorry, but it _is!”_

 _Was he serious?_ He… he _looked_ really serious… And he wouldn’t be the type to joke about something like this…

“But… I mean… That doesn’t mean your talent’s useless!” Makoto carried on. “It… it just might be that… there wouldn’t have been anything you could have done to stop it, even if you _had_ known!”

“You mean like… If I’d tried to stop it, then I might have just made things worse?” Hiro asked, “Or got myself killed, or something…?”

“Yeah!” Huh… Yeah, Makoto had a point, actually… “Or maybe it was just something that _couldn’t_ be changed, like the fixed points in Doctor Who!”

“What…!? Makoto, that show’s not _real,_ you know!” Hiro pointed out.

“Uhh… Yeah, I know…” Good! Couldn’t have Makoto going around believing nonsense! “But you get what I’m talking about, right…?”

“Well… yeah, I guess…” Just… some things couldn’t be changed, he guessed… “But _man_ , the whole _council…_ what a _bummer…!”_ Specially for the kids who’d known those guys better… and the guys like Makoto who’d been planning to join ‘em! Speaking of which… “…Hey, man… Are _you_ doing okay?”

“Huh!? Me…? Yeah… I… _well_ …” He looked like he didn’t know _how_ to feel… “I mean… I didn’t know any of them _that_ well, but it’s still weird to think I was just talking to them about all the cool stuff we could do for the school festival a couple of days ago… And _now_ …”

Poor kid… maybe Hiro should give him a hug…

 _“But…_ I don’t think they’d want any of us to sit around and just… _think_ about them. _They’d_ probably be the first people to make sure everyone _else_ in the school was okay!” Makoto didn’t really give him a chance to, before perking back up. “So, I was thinking I’d try and do _that…_ Make sure everyone _else_ in our class is alright… or… y’know… at least make sure they’re eating and stuff… And Kyoko just left to investigate something, so now seemed like a good time to start…”

Wow… dude was sure dealing with this well! Honestly, it made Yasuhiro look like a dumbass in comparison. And _he_ was supposed to be grown up one in their class…! Alright then…! If Makoto could do it! “You’re right! We should go check up on ‘em!”

“Huh? You to!?” Man… why’d he have to look so shocked that Yasuhiro was gonna help? “Are you sure you’re okay? I mean… I didn’t see _you_ eating at all yesterday…”

“Uhh…” Yeah, that was true, wasn’t it? He’d spent the day in bed trying to get to sleep. “Yeah… Guess _I_ need to eat first…”

“Alright… Well, let’s get _you_ some food, and I can check if anyone _else_ is the dining room while we’re at it!” Makoto suggested.

“Uhh… yeah, I guess…” But why would he need to check on people who were already in the dining room eating…?

Man… the dining room looked so weird right now. Usually it’d either be jam-packed and noisy or totally dead and silent…But right now there were a just a few people in here, and they were all sorta murmuring to each other instead of talking like they normally would.

“Oh! Hey, it’s Hifumi and Celes!” Makoto pointed them out… It looked like Celestia was ordering Hifumi to draw something for her… “She… looks pretty intense, though. I wonder if she’ll flip out if I try and talk to her now?”

“Kinda looks like it…” Hell, even _Hifumi_ looked pretty scared of her right now, “Maybe you should give her an offering to calm her down, or something…”

“Huh… _Oh!_ You mean make her some tea!” The way Celestia was looking right now, he’d been thinking of _blood sacrifices,_ but Makoto’s idea would probably work better… “Yeah… I _think_ I can make it the way she likes…”

It took Makoto so long to find all the stuff he needed for the tea that Yasuhiro had been expecting the pair to leave before they finished, but in the end they were still sitting side by side when he and Makoto headed over, and Celestia was still violently pointing out things on Hifumi’s pictures as he drew them…

“Uhh… Hey! Celestia! Hifumi!” Hifumi looked hopeful and Celestia looked _pissed_ as Makoto called them both, but she calmed down once she was what Makoto was holding… “I thought you guys might like some drinks!”

Hifumi glanced over at Celestia as she considered it. “Well… I think we can take a short break, in that case…”

“Ah? Yes!” Hifumi looked relieved as he quickly shut his sketchbook and grabbed the diet coke off of Makoto’s tray, chugging half of it in one gulp, which seemed to freak out Celestia a bit, as she barely paid attention to her tea as Makoto put it down in front of her.

“So… how are guys?” Makoto asked them.

“Ah… we are fine.” Celestia answered with a curt nod. “I was just… giving Hifumi some suggestions for his drawings!”

“Oh, cool!” That sounded like a fun time! “Mind if I take a look…?”

Hifumi never _did_ mind, and he was still drinking his coke, so Yasuhiro just picked up the sketchbook and flicked through until the first thing he didn’t recognise, which looked like that robot version of Taka he’d made up for his birthday present, then there was the version of Mondo from the same comic, followed by an emotionless robot version of Kyoko, then what looked like Makoto in a suit, then a shiny robot Togami with a smug look on its face…

“Are you putting _us_ in that comic of yours?” Makoto asked, leaning over Yasuhiro’s arms to look as well.

“Ahh… well… At the moment it’s just some concept sketches! I was thinking I could add a few to Ishimaru-dono’s present, as a bonus to make up for the trouble I caused. Ahh… But then… ” Hifumi looked away awkwardly, like he’d have rather Yasuhiro _hadn’t_ picked up the book… “Well… It turned into wishful thinking, about what might have happened if Ishimaru-dono _hadn’t_ been stopped from coming back in time for the meeting…”

 _“WHAT!?”_ Makoto shrieked at the dude, as Hiro turned the page to see a sketch of Makoto and robot-Taka working together to put a giant magical shield around the council members. _“What do you mean!?”_

“Well… If he’d been back, _you’d_ have been at the meeting!”

 _“EXACTLY!”_ Yasuhiro hadn’t known Makoto’s voice could even _go_ that high! “You _wanted_ that to happen!?”

“He means the versions of you from his comic…” Celestia pointed at the page Yasuhiro had open. “The one’s who could have _dealt_ with that murderer…”

“Huh…?” Makoto quietened down as he looked at the sketch. “Oh… you mean… you think we might have been able to _stop_ the murders, if we’d been there…”

“Of course!” Hifumi agreed, looking confused, “What did you think I meant?”

“Well… to be honest, this whole time I’ve just been thinking I was lucky I wasn’t there, because I probably would have been killed as well…” Makoto admitted.

“Ah! I never thought of that! Not at _all!”_ Hifumi squealed an apology. “I just thought, between Ishimaru-dono, Togami-dono and Kirigiri-dono, that villain wouldn’t have had a chance!”

“You think?” Makoto looked like he didn’t know what to think, “I mean… he managed to kill the whole council! They’re no slouches themselves…”

Everyone fell quiet. Guess it was up to Yasuhiro to brighten the mood. “Well… you _would_ have been able to if you’d had magical shield powers!” He gestured to the picture and then flipped the page to see what was next, a picture of Makoto summoning magical ropes around the shadowy figure… “Or rope laser beams to tie the guy up…” Then there was a picture of robot-Taka stabbing him in the shoulder with a katana… “Or a sword…” The next picture was robot-Kyoko shooting the guy in the leg, “Or a gun to hit him with…” and then the next was Togami joining in with a gun that was shooting _lots_ of bullets… “Or a… a Gatling gun…?” And then the next was Kyoko _and_ Togami both riddling the guy’s body with so many bullets that it looked like it was jerking and bouncing around in the air… “Or… Uhh… more guns… _way too many guns…”_

“What do you _mean,_ too many guns!?” Celestia snapped at him, while Hifumi just looked at her worriedly. “He _killed_ the _council!_ You don’t think he’d have deserved it if one of them had _shot_ him!?”

“Celestia… We’re not saying he shouldn’t have been _stopped_ , but…” Makoto tried to calm her down, but…

“He shouldn’t just have been _stopped,_ he should have been _punished!”_ Celestia snapped, “He broke in here, where we’re supposed to be _safe,_ and he _killed thirteen of us!_ And we don’t even know if he’s _gone!_ He might still be hanging around! So why the fuck _shouldn’t_ he be _beaten_ and _stabbed_ and _shot_ and _murdered_ like he’s probably planning to do to _us…!?_ _WELL…!?”_

Man… no one had a _clue_ what to say to _that…!_

“Ce…Celestia?” Looked like Hifumi was gonna try though, “Are you… Are you also worried that we might not be safe in…?”

“Ah…!” Celestia stiffened up, going back into her normal cool-and-calm mode. “I am fine. I… I just think that he shouldn’t have been _allowed_ to get away…”

“Well… Of course not!” Makoto agreed with her, “But… thinking about it _like that…_ I don’t think that’s good for you!”

She glared at him… but he actually glared back at her for once, so she huffed and turned to look at Hifumi, who was just looking like he was gonna cry for her in a minute, so then she looked at Yasuhiro, but he didn’t know _what_ to think, so he just gave her a shrug…

“...Perhaps I should take advantage of those counselling sessions the headmaster mentioned.” She stood up calmly. “Would you like to join me, Hifumi?”

“Ahh… yes! Of course!” Hifumi gulped down the last of his coke and stood up with her, and then they both walked out.

 _“Oh boy…”_ Makoto sighed once they were out of the room. “Guess I’m lucky you hadn’t eaten… I might not have checked on them otherwise…”

“Uhh… yeah…” Yasuhiro agreed, suddenly realising he still hadn’t actually eaten anything himself, and didn’t even feel hungry enough for it anyway… And he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t taken their food. “She didn’t drink any of the tea, though…”

“Well… at least she’s going to talk to someone. That’s probably the best thing…” Makoto sighed, drinking the tea himself. “Are you going to eat that? It’s about the right time for my lunch, so…”

Yasuhiro looked at the food. This meal was giving him bad vibes, now. “Sure, go ahead…”

Once Naegi had scarfed the food down (apparently he’d forgot to eat yesterday) they headed over to the dorms and started ringing people’s doorbells as they travelled down the hall. Taka, Mondo, Togami, Sayaka, Junko, Murkuro, Chihiro… seemed like no one was home today, or at least not answering the door…

“M-Makoto? What do _you_ want?” Oh, hey! Toko was in! And it was actually _Toko,_ not... _Syo…_

“Hey, Toko! Hiro and I just… thought it’d be a good idea to see how everyone _was_ today!” Makoto told her, as Hiro quit trying Chihiro’s door and went to join him.

“Huh… And here’s _me_ thinking I should stay in and give everyone some _space…”_ Toko grumbled, which made the kid look really worried, “Then again, people _like_ you, so you’ve probably got the right idea…”

“Ah… come on, Toko! People like you too!” Makoto told her, “Why don’t you come with us? We’ve only found Hifumi and Celestia so far…”

 _“Urg…!_ Don’t give me that! No one’s going to want _me_ turning up at their door!” Toko scowled at him, “They’re probably all wondering if _I_ did it!”

 _“Huh!?”_ Wait… but hadn’t Syo _stopped_ killing people, “Y-you don’t think she…?”

 _“No!”_ Makoto answered for her, “Toko, _no one’s_ thinking that Syo did this!”

“Hmph…” She humphed quietly and turned away from him, like she was embarrassed. “Well… either way I don’t need your little check-up! This isn’t the _first_ time I’ve found out someone in my school got gruesomely murdered… At least _this_ time I know it’s not _my_ fault…”

…She still looked like she was really upset over it all, though.

“Uhh… I guess… But you should probably still talk to one of the…”

“I already _did…”_ She cut him off, “Togami went straight there before going to the library yesterday, so I figured I’d get it over with then…”

“Oh… uhh…” Makoto trailed off and the whole thing turned into awkward silence. Seemed like there wasn’t really any reason for them to have bothered her, huh…?

 _“Uuugh…_ Just…” Toko broke the silence by sighing, “Try again _tomorrow,_ if you actually _want_ to, anyway...”

“Sure thing, Toko!” Makoto cheered up, even as she was shutting the door in his face, “I guess she just needs some time alone, today…”

“I guess, yeah…” Yasuhiro was kinda surprised she’d even wanted Makoto to come back tomorrow. “Should we try Hina next? Chi didn’t answer.”

“Huh… I wasn’t expecting _that…”_ Makoto muttered, “But, sure, let’s try Hina…”

 _Hina_ didn’t answer either, but then they tried Sakura’s room and found out she was asleep in there.

“She spent most of the night crying.” Sakura explained, offering them both some sweets. “I thought it best to let her rest.”

“Yeah… Good idea.” Makoto agreed, still looking worried about Hina though. “How about you? How have you been?”

“I’ve… been preoccupied with my own thoughts. But I am making sure to stay well-fed and talk about my concerns to the school.” Sakura told them, “Though I do appreciate the visit… If only because I assume you are checking on _all_ of our classmates. How are they?”

“Well… to be honest, we’ve only see Celestia, Hifumi and Toko so far. Aside from Leon, we’ve checked everyone else’s room and they didn’t answer.” Makoto explained, “Celestia seems scared and angry about the murder, Hifumi’s making up fantasies where it didn’t happen and Toko asked us to leave her alone today… But… I _think_ they’re dealing with it about as well as you’d expect anyone to, in their own ways.”

“Hmm… Indeed. I’m more concerned about the ones who didn’t respond to you.” Sakura frowned.

“Well… We know Togami’s probably just up in the library, right?” That’s where Toko had said he went yesterday…

“Right… and maybe the others are just sleeping as well!” Makoto guessed. “We can check Leon’s room and the library, then try everyone’s doors again afterwards…”

“Thank you.” Sakura nodded. “Knowing someone is looking out for everyone will ease one of my concerns…”

“…What about the others?” Yasuhiro asked her, “I mean… what _else_ is worrying you…”

“Ah… It is not something I should concern you with…” Sakura shook her head.

“Are you sure…?” Makoto asked.

 _“Yes.”_ Sakura nodded firmly, and Yasuhiro sure wasn’t going to pick a fight with _that_ expression!

“Uhh… o-okay, then!” And neither was Makoto… “We’ll come back and let you know how everyone else is later.”

“Thank you…” Sakura offered them both another sweet as they got up to leave, although Yasuhiro hadn’t actually eaten the first one…

Leon didn’t answer his door either, but they found Togami in the library like they’d expected, smashing his fingers over a computer keyboard so fast Yasuhiro was amazed he wasn’t making a million mistakes a minute…

“Hey, Togami!” Makoto tried to get his attention, but the guy didn’t even look away from the screen, not even when Makoto leant over his shoulder to have a look at what he was doing, which _usually_ made the guy go ballistic. “You’re working? Even after yesterday…?”

“The student council being dead doesn’t reduce the amount of work I have to do.” Togami told him in a bored voice, like he was only one step away from rolling his eyes at the guy, all while typing away and staring at the screen, still. “In realtiy, it’s actually _increased_ the amount I have to do.”

“Huh? So this is council stuff?” Makoto took a better look at the screen. “Then… Can I help at all?”

Togami’s fingers stopped moving for a moment before he answered… “Yes, actually.” Makoto’s eyes lit up. “Get me a coffee, black, no sugar. _Try_ and pick a decent blend.”

“Uhh… okay then…?” Makoto looked worried as Togami went back to destroying the computer keyboard before he’d even given him an answer…

…And then the guy didn’t even say _thanks_ to Makoto when they came back _with_ the coffee, or anything at all when Makoto said he’d be back again tomorrow…

“So… We’re gonna go try the guys who didn’t answer their doors, right?” He reminded Makoto, as the kid kept looking back at the library as they walked.

“Uhh, right!” Makoto turned his head back forward and nodded. “If nothing else, I’m sure _Mondo_ should still be in _his_ room…

…And he was so sure of it that he tried the doorbell several times, like he was planning to _annoy_ Mondo out of there…

It worked though, ‘cause the door suddenly flew open, and Mondo jumped out at them both, fist pulled back and a snarl on his face… _“Alright you mother-fuckers, BRING IT!”_

“WOAH!” Yasuhiro and Makoto both fell back away from the guy in a panic, “Mondo, _dude,_ it’s _us,_ man!”

“GGGRRhhh?” Mondo slowed down and stopped, and he started looking a bit less pissed off at them. “What the _fuck_ are you _doing!?”_

“Uhh… trying to check if you and Taka are alright?” Makoto squeaked.

“What…? Why didn’t ya just _phone_ me then!?” Mondo snapped, “Fuck’s sake, Makoto, I gotta be on _guard!_ I ain’t unblocking the _door_ every time ya wanna have a chat!”

“…Unblocking the _door?”_ Makoto asked, ‘cause he wasn’t tall enough to look past Mondo and see the whole bunch of chairs and tables shifted off to the side of the entranceway… No wonder Mondo had taken a while to answer if he had to move all of _that!_

“Hell, I wouldn’t have risked it, if I hadn’t realised I’d fucked up and forgot to bring any food for _Taka_ with me…” Mondo carried on, as if he hadn’t heard the kid.

“Yeesh… I know he likes his routine, but I would have thought he’d just eat what _you_ had in here!” Yasuhiro admitted.

“Uhh… Well, I ain’t got any of _that_ left, either…” Mondo admitted, looking up the hallway anxiously. “So now I gotta drag him to the kitchen and back to go get stuff…”

 _“Drag_ him!?” Makoto asked, louder this time. “Is he that bad, still!?”

“Ehh… well… ‘drag him’ ain’t exactly right…” Mondo muttered, looking back in the room with a frown. “It’s like… If I push him he’ll walk along with me. And if I put stuff in his hands and tell him loud enough, he’ll eat and drink. And this morning he got outta bed and started tryin’ ta head out the door by himself… But otherwise, he just sits or stands there staring into space and crying.”

Oh _man…_ This really _had_ hit Taka hard! Then again, Taka had been planning to join those guys for the whole first year, and paying attention to every meeting they had the whole time. He probably knew them all better than anyone else in the school had…

“Which is why I can’t hang around with the door open all day! If anyone tries to attack him now, he wouldn’t be able to even _try_ to defend himself!” Mondo carried on. “So you two are gonna have to…”

“Wait… What if _we_ go get you some food, while you stay inside the room with Taka?” Makoto suggested.

“Huh? Oh, yeah… Good thinking!” Mondo nodded, “You know what he likes, right?”

“Yeah… it’s always toast and a banana at lunchtime, right?” Yasuhiro said, just to prove he did know.

“Uhh, yeah…” Mondo gave him a weird look. “More like dinnertime _now_ though…”

“Huh… Really?” Weird… it _was_ getting pretty late in the afternoon… Kinda surprising he wasn’t hungry by now…

“We’ll make you guys some riceballs, then!” Makoto offered.

“Good.” Mondo nodded, then lowered his voice. “And when you get back, hit the doorbell quickly twice, then for longer three times, the another quick one. That way I’ll know it’s you!”

“Uhh.. okay, Mo…” Mondo didn’t actually give Makoto time to answer before he shut the door on them both again.

“Oh boy… He’s _really_ not taking it well…” Makoto sighed, though Yasuhiro wasn’t sure what had made him start thinking about Taka all of a sudden. “Well… let’s go…”

 _“…THERE!_ Now _quit_ being a _pain_ and…”

 _“ARGH! Leon!_ I haven’t _finished!”_

“You can finish _later!”_

 _“No!_ I… _Let me GO!”_

What the heck!? Was that Leon and Sayaka yelling at each other…?

“Huh? Leon…!?” Makoto and him both turned around at the same time, to see Leon doing his best to pull Sayaka out of her bedroom door, although she was doing everything _she_ could to drag her heels and squirm out of his hold. “What are you _doing!?”_

“Eh? Makoto!?” Leon and Sayaka both turned to face them, and their faces both lit up at the same time… _“Makoto! HELP!”_

“Uhh…” Makoto just froze as both of ‘em expected him to help, then turned to glare at each other when they both realised the _other_ had _also_ expecting him to help _them…_

“Why would he help _you!?”_ Sayaka snapped, “You’re trying to _drag_ me out of my _room!”_

“Only ‘cause _you_ aren’t looking after yourself!” Leon snapped back, “You’re barely standing _upright,_ and you’re _still_ refusing to stop writing!”

“I _told_ you, I’ll stop writing when I’m _finished!”_

“You said that _yesterday!_ And you still haven’t taken a break since then!

“Because I haven’t _finished!”_

“At _this_ rate, you’ll _collapse_ before you finish!”

“I _won’t!_ I _can’t!_ I _need_ to finish my work!” Sayaka sounded pretty desperate… “So quit _standing there_ and _help_ me, Makoto!”

“Don’t!” Leon shook his head, “We need to take her to therapy, or _something!”_

“I _told_ you, I don’t _need_ therapy! I _need_ to finish my work!” Sayaka yelled back at him.

 _“Why!?_ We don’t even _have_ classes anyway!” Leon shouted. “You’ll have plenty of time to write new songs once you’ve _eaten,_ or _slept,_ or _something!”_

“You don’t _know_ that! The _council_ probably thought _they_ had plenty of time, too!”” Sayaka screeched, “And now they’re all _DEAD!”_

“…Oh no…” He only just heard Makoto muttering next to him, as Leon gaped at her in confusion.

“What…?”

“Leon, she… She means all the work _they_ were doing…” Makoto spoke up, “They’re not gonna be able to finish any of it…”

 _“So…!?”_ Leon cried, looking down in shock as Sayaka started shaking in his arms…

“So… what if that happens to _me…?”_ She swallowed, “I… There’s so much I want to do… But… but what if…”

 _“…Oh.”_ Leon seemed to finally figure out what the problem was, although he still looked like he had about as many ideas on how to cheer her up as _Yasuhiro_ did…

“…Hey, Hiro? Can you sort those riceballs out for Mondo…?” Makoto asked him, barely waiting for an answer before he headed over to Sayaka and held her hand. “Sayaka… Sayaka, that’s _not_ going to happen! Leon and I’ll make _sure_ of it, okay…?”

…He couldn’t tell what Sayaka was saying back over all her sobs, but it looked like the pair of them had it covered! He’d probably be much more use going and getting those riceballs anyway…

Not that he had any clue how many of them he should make. Taka and Mondo did eat a lot, and if Mondo had left it until the last minute to get more food, then they might be extra hungry. One the other hand, if they’d only just ran outta food then they might not be hungry enough to eat a load of them yet. And it’d be a pain to make them all up, only for them to get waste! Honestly, it’d be easier if Mondo just made them himself like he’d been planning to…

Hang on! That was it! What was the point of Yasuhiro making them a bunch of riceballs _one time,_ when he could just take a big bag of rice and a cooker back to Mondo’s room instead! Then he and Taka could make as many riceballs as they wanted! It wasn’t like anyone was gonna miss _one_ rice-cooker, was it…? So long as it wasn’t the one with the good Feng Shui…

By the time he’d unplugged the cooker, put a bag of rice inside it, then decided to add a bunch of bananas and some sweets before hauling the whole lot back to the dorms, Makoto, Leon and Sayaka were nowhere to be seen, so he just put the cooker down and did Mondo’s secret code dealie on the doorbell…

It opened slower this time, with Mondo peaking around the door with a suspicious look on his face… “Hiro!? How the hell’d you make riceballs _that_ quick!?”

“I didn’t!” Yasuhiro gave him a thumbs up as he bent down to pick the stuff back up. “You know what they say… ‘Give a man a riceball, and he eats for a day! Give him a rice _cooker_ and he eats…’ Well, until he runs out of rice, I guess…”

“Huh… Yeah… Good thinking!” Mondo grabbed the thing out of his hands before he’d even stood all the way back up, which suited him ‘cause it was _heavy_ with all that stuff in it! “Thanks!”

“No problem, man!” Hiro told him, “Anyway, you mind if I…”

Mondo shut the door in his face.

“…come in and say hi to…” Hiro trailed off… Wow _, rude_ , Mondo! He didn’t even let Yasuhiro finish his sentence!

Well… now what should he do? Makoto still wasn’t around, but maybe he could try and check on everyone else again…?

…Still nothing from Chihiro, Mukuro or Junko! Man… Had she actually managed to _find_ Junko, even…? Maybe he should have a look around the school and…

“Hiro! There you are!” Huh? Oh, hey! Makoto was back! “I thought you were going to make riceballs!”

“I _was…_ But then I realised it’d be easier if I just gave Mondo a rice cooker and let _him_ make ‘em!”

“You… you gave him a…” Uh oh… Makoto looked kinda upset about that… _“Argh…_ Hiro! I didn’t offer to make Mondo food so he wouldn’t have to leave his room! I did it ‘cause I hoped it’d mean he’d still open the door for me the _next_ time I checked on him!”

 _“Oooh…_ Uhh… my bad…?” Makoto sighed at his apology. “Still… one bag of rice won’t last ‘em forever! He’ll have to come back out at _some_ point!”

“I guess…” Makoto sighed, “And hopefully Taka will come out of shock sometime soon… _He_ won’t be willing to just sit around forever…”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Yasuhiro tried to encourage him, although all he got in return was an annoyed look. “Anyway… You have any idea where Chihiro, Junko or Mukuro are?”

“Ah… not if they’re not in their rooms…” Makoto frowned, bummer. “And the only person I think would be able to guess where they are would be Kyoko, and I don’t know where exactly _she’s_ gone, either…”

Hmm… Someone who could _guess_ where’d they’d gone. Or maybe _predict_ it…!

“How about I ask Alter Ego?” Heck, Chihiro was the guy who’d _given_ him that thing! It oughta know where _he_ was, at least!

“Oh, yeah! Good idea!” Makoto agreed, and followed him back to his room so they could pick up the tablet and ask it…

 _‘Umm… At this time on a Tuesday, Master should be in his mathematics class!’_ Was the answer they got about Chihiro, _‘But… So should you two…”_

“Uhh… oh _yeah…_ He doesn’t know…” Makoto grimaced, “But… Are we allowed to tell him…?”

“Well… it is _inside_ the school, right?” Yasuhiro shrugged.

“Yeah, but… I’m pretty sure the headmaster wouldn’t see it that way…” Makoto argued.

 _‘…Did something unexpected happen? That’s why you don’t know where Master is?’_ Alter Ego piped up.

“Yeah… but we’ve also been told to keep it a secret…” Makoto explained.

 _‘I see…’_ Alter Ego looked upset, _‘Can you at least tell me if Master is alright?’_

“Uhh… Well… he wasn’t hurt at all…” Yasuhiro answered it, “He just… might have been upset by it…”

Oh man… Alter Ego looked even _more_ upset, now!

“…Some of the students were attacked by someone who shouldn’t have been in the school.” Makoto suddenly told it. “No one knows who they were, though.”

_‘How did that person get in? Master said the school has very good security systems!’_

“They don’t know that either.” Yasuhiro told it.

 _‘Oh… I see.’_ Alter Ego frowned the same way Chihiro did when he was thinking. _‘In that case, I think Master may have tried to offer his help to the security team.’_

 _“Eyyy!_ Nice one! I knew you were gonna have the answer!” Yasuhiro patted the top of its screen, “Come on, Makoto!”

“Uhh… _right!”_ The kid took a little while to react and follow him. Maybe the guy was starting to get tired of all this helping everyone else business…

Yasuhiro would have suggested he take a break, if he’d had any idea where the security team actually _was._ But he didn’t so he’d just have to settle for handling the security guards for the kid…

“Hey, man! We’re wondering if you could help us out!” Yasuhiro waved at the first guard he saw, “We’re looking for Chihiro Fujisaki! He’s not been in his dorm all day…”

“Well, he’s _here…”_ Score one for Alter Ego! “But I’m under orders not make sure he’s not disturbed until he’s finished working.”

“What!? What’s he doing that’s so important?” Makoto asked, “…Is it to do with the murders…?”

“No… That’s all being handled by our own professionals!” The guard insisted, “This is something to do with that pro… _parade_ outside.”

“Someone’s having a _parade!?_ Now!?” Right after the council was killed!? “That’s _really_ insensitive!”

“Ah…!” Man, this guy seemed shocked that he thought that… “You’ve not seen it yet? Go look out any window at the front gate… you’ll see what I mean…”

…Y’know, all of a sudden, he was getting really bad vibes about this…

“Uhh… okay then…?” Sounded like Makoto was feeling the same way, “But, can you do me a favour and remind Chihiro to eat and drink? He doesn’t always remember, when he’s doing computer stuff…”

“Don’t worry. We’re making sure he does.” Well… that was one less person for Makoto to worry about.

But the kid still looked as worried as Yasuhiro felt as they made their way up the hallway towards the front of the school and peered out of the window there…

…It didn’t look like much of a parade to Yasuhiro! You needed more than people for it to be a parade! Even if there really _were_ a ton of them! Parades were supposed to have colourful floats and fancy clothing! Not just a bunch of people in the same brown suits all standing at the front gate, chanting at it…

“…It’s the Reserve Course!” Makoto pointed out, “They’re having a _protest?”_

Well… there weren’t any signs… But it looked more like _that,_ than a _parade…_ What a bummer! A parade might have been a good chance for him to make some money…

_But better than all of them committing suicide…_

_“Urgh…”_ Why had he gone and thought about _that!?_ He’d spent the whole summer reminding himself that Taka had said they were all fine! So there was no chance of it happening! And they wouldn’t bother _protesting_ anything if they weren’t planning to stay alive long enough to see the effect of it, right!?

So why couldn’t he keep it out of his head…? Why did he keep having that prediction and thinking about it and start wondering _how_ they’d even do it until his stomach churned and he felt like he was gonna throw up…!?

“…Hiro… _Hiro!?”_ Makoto was yelling at him, ‘cause he’d just doubled over and clamped a hand over his own mouth. “Hiro, what’s wrong…?”

“It’s cool…” He lied. “…I just feel sick.”

“Oh… Is _that_ why you’ve not eaten all day?” Makoto still looked worried. “I thought it was just… because of the news, y’know? Like I was…”

So, Makoto had noticed he wasn’t eating? And his theory made sense… Yasuhiro hadn’t really eaten _anything_ since the kid told him the truth this morning, and he _still_ hadn’t felt hungry, even before see the Reserves just now… “Well… that whole thing hasn’t helped, either…”

Especially not when he knew he’d spent all of summer worrying about the kids out _there_ , who were gonna be _fine,_ and not the one’s who’d ended up getting _murdered_ …

“ _Right_ … You know…Maybe _you_ should go and talk to a counsellor?” Makoto suggested, “I mean… It’s your choice, but… I found it helped, a little… And I think we’ve spoken to everyone we could find…”

Talk to someone? He’d usually talk to his Mom, but Kyoko’s dad had seemed pretty serious about him _not_ doing that… “Yeah… I think you’re right there, Makoto...” Makoto seemed pretty pleased about it… like he’d just been worrying about Yasuhiro this whole time, even before _he_ had… “You’re pretty smart! For a kid, anyway…”

“What do you mean _for a kid!?”_ Welp, so much for Makoto looking pleased! “As if _you’re_ any smarter, just because you’re older than me! I bet you don’t even know where student services _is!”_

“Yeah I do! I’ve had to take stuff there! It’s…” …Hang on… Every time he’d gone there, it was ‘cause Taka had dragged him there, wasn’t it…? “It’s… uhh…”

 _Man,_ Makoto could be one smug-looking little _brat,_ sometimes! “…Come on, I’ll show you where it is…”

“Thanks…” Yasuhiro sighed. Hopefully he’d remember the way there, this time.

And hopefully someone there could convince him that there really was no reason to worry about those Reserve kids out there…

* * *

(Wednesday, September 19th 2012)

“Yes… good… see to it…” Togami finished off yet another business call, before going back to the _important_ task at hand… Working out the roles for the new student council.

So far he had Kirigiri down as Treasurer, and Naegi as Event Coordinator, as they’d been planning before. That just left the _Secretary…_ but the only other person who’d shown any interest in the council at _all_ was _Ishimaru…_ And Togami could hardly expect _him_ to suddenly be any less stubborn about accepting Togami as President than before…

 _He’d_ probably be the first to accuse Togami of orchestrating a power-grab, or to say that he was disrespecting the old council by trying to replace them before the investigation into their murder had even finished! As if it would be in the _least_ bit _‘respectful’_ to just… sit around doing _nothing_ while all the important projects they’d started were left to flounder after their deaths!

He might not have been able to prevent their senseless murder, and he might not be capable of bringing their killer to justice, but he _could_ make sure their work was carried on!

…Assuming he could find someone to act as the Secretary. But who? The old members of class 77 had _quit_ , so he could hardly rely on any of _them!_ And the other classes weren’t _allowed_ named positions on the council, which meant he had to rely on the other members of _his_ class…

If only Ishimaru weren’t so stubborn… or difficult to _bribe!_ But he _was,_ so Togami would have to think of the next best person, which was…

_*beep beep beep*_

“Tch!” Togami tutted as his phone went off… It was an email from Pennyworth, apologising for failing to deliver something in person, due to the large number of people outside the school… Well, that didn’t matter. He wasn’t expecting anything important to arrive until tomorrow. It was surprising Pennyworth had gone to the trouble today, let alone bothered to scan the documents in question and attach them to the message… Honestly, that could be a major security risk, depending on _which_ documents they were. He might need to remind the butler of that…

But anyway, back to the important matter at hand… The council, specifically, the new secretary. Someone reliable and ideally good at writing quickly…

…Why could he suddenly smell _coffee?_ He’d finished that cup Naegi had brought ages ago!

Ah… It seemed Naegi had come back to offer Togami _another_ cup! Togami hadn’t been expecting him to come back again this afternoon, but perhaps _he’d_ have a suggestion about a good secretary…

“I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow…” Togami noted, in response to Naegi’s greeting. “I have a…”

Naegi cut him off with some surprised-sounding nonsense before he could finish.

“What do _mean_ ‘It _is_ tomorrow’!?” He snapped back at him, “That’s not how _time_ works!”

Naegi clarified that he meant he’d given Togami his first cup of coffee on Tuesday, and now it was… _Wednesday…!?_

That couldn’t _possibly…_ No, wait… His phone and computer both agreed with _Naegi…_ Which would mean, as Naegi was currently trying to find out from him, that he’d been working here in the library for the last 24 hours, without leaving for food or drinks or sleep…

“…I suppose I have.” He answered Naegi’s question, and tried to ignore the confused-sounding splutters from the boy. “I had important work to do, and I don’t intend to stop until it’s finished…”

Hold on… speaking of important work, if today was _Wednesday,_ then the thing Pennyworth had tried to deliver were the contracts he needed to sign! No wondered the butler had scanned them! And in order to sign them himself…

“Not now Naegi…” Why was the boy still _here_ even, hadn’t he delivered the coffee? Was he really that surprised Togami had been working this long? Didn’t he have _any_ stamina? “I need to print something off and sign it, thanks to the school letting so many people hang around outside the gates…”

Naegi sounded predictable confused by that statement at first, but then realised what Togami was talking about… which almost made his blood boil with _rage…_

“A _parade!?”_ That… that _couldn’t_ be! How could the school _dare_ to let that happen!? “You’re telling me… the school is allowing a _parade_ to happen _right now… right_ _outside_ …!”

Naegi waved his arms around and explained that that was just what the school was calling the mass gathering outside, which was actually a protest by the Reserve students…

“A protest about _what?”_ Togami asked, which seemed to stump Naegi, to his disbelief… “Don’t you go over there for some club or something? Ask one of _them_ or something!”

...Naegi told him he _had_ thought of that, but the school didn’t let him go out and ask, and most of their class just turned up to clubs when they felt like it, which meant Ishimaru was the only one who had any of their email addresses…

“Then ask _him!”_ Honestly, was he the only one in this class with any _sense!?_

…It seemed so… Naegi had apparently given up on talking to _him,_ because he was in Oowada’s room and Oowada was refusing to open the door…

“Then have security break it down!”

Naegi frowned and slowly told him he didn’t think they’d be willing to do that, and even if they did, Ishimaru was in some catatonic-sounding state and hadn’t spoken since the news on Monday…

“Well, have you tried _making_ him talk!?” Togami asked, which apparently just confused Naegi… “I _mean_ by _slapping_ some _sense_ into him, or something…”

Naegi started yelling about Ishimaru _grieving,_ so obviously they _hadn’t…_

“Of course you haven’t. I don’t know _why_ I thought you would…” Togami sighed as he turned to go back to the dorms, “I’ll just have to do it _myself…”_

And he _would_ have, if Naegi hadn’t had the _gall_ to grab him by the arm and start trying to drag him _backwards,_ yelling about how he couldn’t go bother Ishimaru…

“And why _shouldn’t_ I!? It’s bad enough I can’t rely on him being in the _council,_ now you’re saying he won’t even deal with the Reserve course, when it’s been his main focus for the whole year!?” Togami tried to pull himself away, but Naegi had a surprisingly strong grip… “If he can’t manage _that,_ then he doesn’t deserve to _be_ here!”

All _that_ did was cause Naegi to shout at him some more…

“I am being _perfectly_ reasonable!” Togami countered him, “Now let g…”

 _“You’ve been working up here for 24 hours straight! Without any food or drink! That’s not REASONABLE! And neither is telling security to break down Taka’s door so you can go SLAP him while he’s GRIEVING!”_ Naegi…

…Naegi…

…Naegi was _right,_ wasn’t he…? He… no matter _what_ happened, his _own_ health mattered more than _anything!_ So why had he been neglecting it…?

“…And what are you even _talking_ about, Taka not being on the _council?_ Why _wouldn’t_ he be…?”

 _Those_ points _,_ on the other hand, he _could_ argue against! “Ishimaru wants to be president… if I try to include _him,_ he’ll insist on forcing a vote about it!”

“But… that’s what you were going to do _before…”_ Naegi argued back, “So why is it a problem now…?”

“Because we _don’t have time_ for that now!” Honestly, did he have to point out _everything_ to him!? “Do you have _any_ idea how much work the council was doing!? And it wasn’t just putting on fun events for everyone to socialise at! They were working to enact _huge_ changes in policy across the school! Work that could potentially affect Hope’s Peak for _years,_ with knock-on effects felt around the _country!_ And that work takes _time!_ They were going to be busy enough with _fourteen_ of them! _I’m_ having trouble thinking of a _fourth_ person to act as Secretary! So we certainly _don’t_ have the time to be dealing with a damn _vote,_ just because Ishimaru is too stubborn to compromise!”

“Uhh… I… I guess you’re right…” Makoto admitted… although Togami had to wonder if he _actually_ agreed, or just wanted Togami to stop shouting at him… “But… if it’s really that important… Then I think Taka probably _would_ be willing to take on a different role… even if it was just for the first year, while we all sort everything out… I mean, if it’s a case of sacrificing something for _himself,_ in exchange for helping the _school…”_

Hmm… Perhaps Naegi was right… Ishimaru had insisted on contesting him because everything had been business as usual for the council… But he’d still been willing to act as Vice-president in the event that Togami won. He cared more about being _on_ the council than _where_ he was on it, if only so he could try and use the position to fight for better facilities for the Reserve Course…

Hah! If only the _old_ council had thought to listen to him about them. They might not be causing problems with their protest right now… Togami would have to do something to fix that… And perhaps telling Ishimaru that would be enough to make him agree to act as Secretary…

“Uhh… but if _not,_ maybe we could ask Chihiro to be Secretary? Alter-Ego can probably take minutes a lot quicker than Taka can!” Naegi suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

“… _Yes!_ That’s perfect!” The boy seemed surprised that Togami agreed, “That way Ishimaru can focus on something _productive…_ Like fixing the issues the reserve course has… We can make a new role just for that…! That way he’s _sure_ to agree with me! I need to go and tell him right now…!”

 _“NO!”_ Naegi yanked on his arm again, “You _need_ to go _eat and drink!_ And then get some _sleep!”_

“But…!”

 _“Taka_ still needs time to deal with this! And so do _you!”_ …Naegi was still right, wasn’t he…? “Just… rest up today, then you can try and see how he is _tomorrow…_ please?”

…As much as it _pained_ him to lose a whole day of time… to let the council’s work lie _unfinished_ for an entire, extra, _unnecessary_ day… “Alright. Just let me sign this and send it back to Pennyworth…”

But if Ishimaru wasn’t back to his senses by tomorrow, Togami really _would_ slap him!

* * *

(Thursday, September 20th 2012)

Kiyotaka was crying again.

He’d barely noticed it, just suddenly realised that his eyes felt wet and when he’d gone to wipe them he’d found water running down his cheeks, too. He didn’t even know what had started it.

…That wasn’t quite true. Of course, this would have been started by the news that the whole student council had been murdered. That was the start of _all_ the times he’d cried since them…

But what _exactly_ had it been _this_ time…? Had he remembered passing Umesawa or Hino in the school corridors? Saluting Gōryoku or Kashiki? Taking council notices from Ikuta and Yokō to put up in the notice board? Had he thought about the time he’d written up Kurosaki and Kamii for PDA? Or told Ichino and Kubo that he thought council members would be _above_ shouting at each other in the halls?

Or had he remembered when Murasame had come to his room to introduce himself in the first week of school, and had been shocked when Kiyotaka started asking him for more details on his plans for the council that year…

…He’d suggested they discuss it over tea. It was the first cup of tea Kiyotaka had had with anyone else in the school. And Murasame had told him it was unusual for new students to ask him about the council. Kiyotaka had apologised, embarrassed about being the only one who thought it appropriate to waste his time with questions like that.

He’d not understood why Murasame had laughed so bitterly.

Not until he’d asked Kisaragi why the council meeting minutes hadn’t been sent out as soon as usual, and she’d been surprised that he’d even noticed. Not until he’d seen the look of bemusement on Someya’s face after he’d congratulated him on doing such a good job of organising the school festival. Not until he’d caused Nishizawa to grow suspicious of him just by asking her how much was actually _in_ the council budget…

Hardly any of the students the council had worked so hard to help had actually _cared_ what the they were doing. At least, not enough to pay attention, offer to help, or even say _thanks…_ They might have shrugged and said the council were doing a good job, if they’d been pressed on the matter, but they wouldn’t have thought any of them deserved any kind of extra reward for it… After all, everyone knew being able to say you were on _Hope’s Peak’s_ student council was enough of a reward for all the work that it entailed, given how prestigious it would look in their future careers…

…But they didn’t _have_ any future careers, now. They were _dead…_ All of them, the _whole_ council, aside from Murasame, were _dead…_ And all their plans and dreams for the future, all the things they’d hoped to achieve… it was just… _gone!_

From _their_ point of view, they might as well have never done any of the extra work for the council at all. It hadn’t ended up benefitting _them_ at all! They’d just helped a group of students who didn’t appreciate how much they’d actually _done_ , and probably wouldn’t until they had some issue with the staff and suddenly realised there wasn’t a group of volunteers to back them up anymore, because they were all dead. Or school festival time came around and no one thought to organise anything until it was far too late, because the people who usually would were dead. Or someone needed extra funding for their work and wasn’t able to get it, because the group who fought for that sort of thing when the school set the annual budget were _dead…_

It all kept coming back to that. The council were dead, the council were dead, the council were dead... He’d thought it over and over and over. So many times it had stopped causing his brain to grind to a halt and shut down every time he did. So _now_ what…?

He’d usually try to work to fix things… but how could he ‘fix’ the council being _dead!? Mondo_ would probably tell him to think about the future… but _how?_ His plans for the future had all banked on the prestige of being part of the council! And he couldn’t even try to focus on making things better for his fellow students, or even the Reserve course, because in order to do anything worthwhile, he’d need backup from the _council! Everything_ he thought of needed the student council! There couldn’t just… _not be one!_ He wasn’t even sure the school could keep functioning _without_ one… at least not without it eventually causing problems for everyone… There _needed_ to be a student council! But there wasn’t one…

_Then fix THAT!_

Kiyotaka blinked as the thought crossed his mind in a flash, and he sat up a little straighter in the bed, even with Mondo’s arms weighing him down. If there needed to be a council, then that meant someone had to _make_ a council. And he already knew most of the processes behind that, thanks to helping the Reserve course…

Could _he_ make a new student council…?

Obviously, he couldn’t do it right _now…_ They hadn’t even had their _funerals_ yet! But… it was _possible,_ wasn’t it? Once everyone had had time to grieve, and if he could get enough people…

 _Could_ he though? How many would he _need…?_ Let’s think… The mandatory positions for _any_ council would be president, treasurer and secretary. And the school insisted on the Event Organiser position being filled, in order for them to have someone to liase with for the school festival…

That meant he needed _four_ people… And there’d been _four_ people from their class who’d volunteered! Himself, Makoto, Kyoko and…

… _Togami._

Togami, who’d insisted on either being the president, or _nothing or all…_ Which meant if Kiyotaka wanted his help, he’d have to give up on president and take… _secretary_ , probably. Kyoko and Makoto had already said they’d prefer treasurer and event planner… Did he want the heir’s help _that_ much…? He might still be able to find someone _else_ to act as secretary…

But it’d still mean one _less_ person on the council, at a time when they would probably need all the help they could _get!_ Not to mention Togami might even be stubborn enough to try to make a rival student council to his own, and then the pair of them would end up in a petty dispute about it, at a time when the students needed a united front more than ever. And that wouldn’t make wither of them look good! They’d just look…

_Out of touch with the needs of the ~~people~~ students…_

Kiyotaka breathed in deep and let it out… alright then. For the good of the school, he could give up on being council president… for _one_ year, at least! So long as Togami didn’t refuse to support the Reserve Council…

…He didn’t actually know what Togami’s position on that _was,_ did he? Or Kyoko’s for that matter! And he didn’t even know if they’d even be _willing_ to try and replace the old council… it wouldn’t be unreasonable of them to worry that doing so might make them a target for whoever had killed… the old council…

Kiyotaka sighed, slumping backwards against Mondo’s chest. He still could scarcely believe it had happened… that anyone would want to so much as _hurt_ them, let alone _murder_ them…

But he shook the thought out of his head. He couldn’t just sit here and mourn forever! He might not be able to do anything about the fact that lives had been cut short, and their plans ruined, and their dreams dashed… But he _could_ carry on the work they’d been doing for him and his fellow students!

…So long as Makoto, Kyoko and Togami agreed. Which meant he’d need to go ask them. Which meant he’d have to leave the room. Which meant he’d have to get out of bed. Which meant he’d have to lift Mondo’s arms off of himself…

Wait… what was Mondo even _doing_ here? Other than sleeping, obviously… Hang on! This was _Mondo’s room!_ Why was he in _here?_ Had Mondo brought him, or had he just come in here at some point… And why was there a _rice cooker_ in here now? Was that even _allowed!?_ What had been happening while he’d been sat here thinking for the last…

He checked his watch… It was 12:45… And assembly had been at 9:30, so three hours? Odd, he’d have guessed it would have been longer than that… Especially as Mondo was so heavily asleep!

Still, that might have just been because Mondo had spent last night worrying about him! Kiyotaka would have to let him get some much-needed rest and find someone else to ask about the rice cooker…

_*Ding dong...*_

Perhaps whoever _that_ was would know!

The doorbell started ringing a second time just as Kiyotaka opened the door to see Togami standing there with his finger on the button...

“Ah, Togami, hello!” Well, this was doubly convenient! “I’ve got something I wanted to discuss with you as well!”

Togami looked slightly confused to see him for a moment, but then smirked. “Hmph… I assume you’ve _finally_ realised what needs to be done, then…”

“What do you mean ‘finally’?” Kiyotaka asked, the smug tone of Togami’s question putting him on edge. “It’s only been three hours!”

“…Ishimaru, it’s _Thursday.”_

 _“THURSDAY…!?”_ Kiyotaka yelled, before remembering that Mondo was asleep right behind him… “B-but… we were told about the council on _Monday…”_

 _“Yes.”_ Togami glared at him, “From what I’ve heard, you’ve spent the last three days having to be hand-fed because you turned into a tearful _zombie!”_

 _Three days!?_ He’d been sitting around doing nothing for _three days!?_ “Didn’t anyone try and _stop_ me? Or… I don’t know… _slap me out of it,_ or something?”

The corner of Togami’s mouth twitched and he raised an eyebrow at Kiyotaka for a moment before he responded… “That wouldn’t have been an appropriate way to deal with someone who’s grieving…”

“Well… I _know…”_ Slapping someone wasn’t even the right way to deal with hysteria, according to his first aid class… “But… three _days…!?”_ Think of all the work he could have got done...!

“…If it makes you feel any better, you’re hardly the only person who’s spent more time dealing with this than they thought they should have needed.” Togami’s eyes shifted sideways as he said it. “And at least _you’ve_ had the sense to realise the council needs replacing, from the look of it!”

“So you’ve been thinking about that as well…” Kiyotaka confirmed his earlier fears. “I take it your plan involves me taking the position of secretary?”

“Not quite. You’re right that I still intend to be president. But Fujisaki’s computer can take minutes and draft emails.” Togami glared at him, as if he was mentally threating Kiyotaka not to argue. “I want _you_ to be in charge of _cross-course_ council initiatives.”

…That wasn’t a position Kiyotaka had ever heard of! What did it even _mean?_ Cross-course!? As in… across the two _Courses_ the school was split into… “…You’re making a new position, so I can focus on helping the Reserve Course?”

“That _was_ the only thing on your manifesto that wasn’t also in _mine!”_ Togami pointed out. “Honestly, you should be _glad_ I’m saving you from doing all of the _president’s_ work…”

“Well… I appreciate your support of my work with the Reserve Course…” If Togami was on his side, then the whole council probably would be! “But _don’t_ think this means I’ve given up on becoming president! I’m only stepping down _this_ year because of the… the…”

Kiyotaka’s determined challenge trailed off partway through… How could he be so _petty?_ Arguing with Togami, when the council _… the council…_

 _“Good.”_ Togami scowled, and as Kiyotaka had looked down he could see his fist had clenched… “Just because the school made such a mess of things, doesn’t mean I won’t still show my superiority to _you!_ And _without_ petty rumours flying around, I might add!”

So, he felt the same way… Disappointed that they had to forgo the election, which had quickly turned into an honourable competition between the pair of them, in favour of dealing with the problem at hand, this year…

But _next_ year would be a different story…

“Alright then! It’s a deal!” Kiyotaka held his hand out, and Togami shook it. “So… we’ll need to organise a student AGM at some point. We’ll probably have to discuss it with the headmaster, in case anyone _else_ is thinking of starting a council as well…”

“Leave all of that to _me!”_ Togami cut him off, “There’s something _else_ for _you_ to deal with! Follow me…”

Togami started to stride away from the door and up the hallway, barely leaving Kiyotaka enough time to look around the room for his keys and catch up with him, let alone put his shoes on! And he didn’t even explain where they were going… he just walked all the way to the end of the school, to the windows that overlooked the main gate…

…And, right now, a _sea_ of people… People all wearing a uniform he recognised well…

“Is that the Reserve course!?” He would usually have said ‘people from the Reserve Course’, but in _this_ case it really looked like the _entire_ other side of the school had congregated at the gates, waving their arms in the air… “What are they doing…?”

“Protesting. Apparently they started showing up Monday, and aren’t even leaving overnight.” Togami explained, “Although the school is trying to save face by calling it a ‘parade’.”

“…I wasn’t aware of them planning _anything_ like this!” He knew they had issues with the school, but not to the extent that they’d _all_ go to a protest about it! Especially not one that involved being there three days straight! “I know I’ve been taking a less active role in their council, but…”

“Fujisaki says someone sent them all an email that agitated them.” Togami added, “But he didn’t get to see what its contents were.”

Ahh… so something had triggered this while he’d been in shock… “Has anyone asked any of them?”

“Apparently, _you’re_ the only one who actually talks to them via email or phone!” Togami scowled, “Everyone _else_ just ‘turns up to clubs when we feel like it…’”

“Ah… so you need me to contact Hirayama and ask her about it!” Kiyotaka realised, starting to head back to Mondo’s room to see if he could find Nanami’s tablet. “I’ll do it now! Hopefully she’ll have some way to read them on her…”

“Good.” Togami replied curtly, as he followed Kiyotaka. “I’ll stay and see if she responds quickly, then I can organise a meeting with the headmaster!”

…Did he mean about the AGM? He didn’t really think the headmaster would have time to talk about that with the murder investigation still going on, did he…? He’d probably have to cancel all the meetings he’d had lined up with students like him, wouldn’t he?

At least Kiyotaka hoped he had… _He’d_ had one organised _yesterday…_ He’d have to send the headmaster an apology for missing it once he written the email to Hirayama…

And speaking of emails, good grief! He had over _forty_ unread ones in here!

…Including several from Hirayama, with the subject line ‘FWD: ACTION REQUIRED: The truth’

“What are _doing!?”_ Togami snapped, as he tapped on the first one from her, “You can check your emails _after_ you…”

“She’s already contacted me…” Kiyotaka explained, which caused the heir to fall quiet and lean over his shoulder for a better look at the screen…

The first message she’d sent was just the question ‘Is this true?’, and a video in the forwarded email underneath it.

“Well, _play_ it, then!” Togami snapped, leaning in even closer, and Kiyotaka suspected he might have tried to lean across and do it himself if Kiyotaka hadn’t...

The video started with a shot of some kind of medical facility that Kiyotaka didn’t recognise, where a group of doctors were huddled around a patient on a bed, and a woman’s voice started speaking over the footage in an informative manner…

_‘Hope’s Peak High School has been performing unsanctioned human experiments. In fact, these experiments are funded by your reserve course tuition…’_

The footage changed to some shots of financial-looking paperwork that moved past too quickly for him to see any details, and then showed some photographs of several of the more poorly-maintained areas and overcrowded classrooms from the Reserve department…

_‘…And bleeding that cash out of your parents was the whole reason the Reserve Course was implemented. This behaviour is inexcusable on its own, but it’s not the worst thing going on here by a long shot.’_

Suddenly the footage changed to… to… was that from the airplane? But there hadn’t been that much blood, had there…? And he _knew_ some of the bodies that were piled on top of each other and covered in blood…

“That’s… the _council…”_ Togami muttered in a horrified voice, before the woman’s voice carried on again…

_‘Just last night, fourteen academy students were massacred. The victims, the entirety of our student council, represented the best and brightest we had to offer. Their killer…?’_

The screen showed a picture of a person shrouded in shadows and a dark, shredded cloak… or was that just ridiculously long _hair?_

‘ _The guinea pig from those unsanctioned experiments!’_

The video then changed to footage of one of the staff meetings, where everyone looked particularly grim…

_‘Hope’s Peak is actively suppressing all this information. Why would they do this, you ask? Simple: They don’t **care** about you. Your parent’s hard-earned cash was squandered on dangerous, unethical pseudo-science.’_

More examples of the reserve department’s shortcomings flashed up on one half of the screen, in contrast to an incredibly well-kept and highly technical looking laboratory area on the other. And then Kiyotaka had to shut his eyes as the shot of the student council appeared again…

_‘But the bigger cost was the human one- fourteen corpses awash in their own blood. Seeing as how **your** money led to this, you’re **all** accomplices to murder.’_

That seemed like it was the end of the video, so Kiyotaka tried opening his eyes… only to see the thing had ended and was now stuck on the picture of the council members covered in blood in a pile… their limbs tangled up with each other… In the cases where they still _had_ all their limbs…

“Don’t _look_ at it!” Togami snapped at him, yanking the tablet out of his hand and tapping at the screen irritably before handing it back to him. “Just… tell her it’s all _nonsense!”_

“Huh…?” It took Kiyotaka a moment to remember why they’d even _started_ watching the video. And even then, Togami’s suggestion didn’t make sense… “But… it’s _not!”_

“What!? You mean you really believe the school is performing _human experimentation…!?”_

“Of _course_ not!” As if the school could afford _that_ on top of everything _else_ it did! “But… the part about the student council… That _is_ true! And if I claim it’s _not,_ just to stop the protest, then they’ll only riot all the harder once they realise the council really _is_ gone!”

“… _Ngh_ …” It seemed Togami didn’t have an argument against that. “Alright, just… Tell her the murders weren’t _funded by the school,_ at least. And forward that email to me so I can show it to Kirigiri and see what _she_ thinks of it…”

“Ah… Shouldn’t we just go straight to the headmaster about this?” Kiyotaka suggested. No reason to make _Kyoko_ have to watch that…

“…You _really_ think he doesn’t already _know!?”_ Togami stared at him incredulously, “That _first_ email was sent to every student in the Reserve Course, and it’s even _spoofed_ to look like it’s _from_ him! He’d _have_ to be aware of it!”

“Ahh…” Kiyotaka realised he was right and started forwarding him the email. “But then… why hasn’t _he_ convinced them it’s not true…?”

“Who knows? Maybe they don’t trust him?” Togami shrugged, “But obviously _this_ one trusted you enough to ask _your_ opinion, so maybe _you’ll_ have better luck!”

“Right… I’ll try then…” Kiyotaka agreed, as Togami left the room, closing the door with a loud slam.

…It was lucky Mondo hadn’t woken up at that… He must have been really exhausted to sleep that well. Maybe Kiyotaka should go and get some food for him once he’d replied to Hirayama…

But before he did that, he’d better read the rest of her messages, so they were on the same page…

The next message was sent an hour after the first…

_‘I’d understand if you think this is so insane it’s not worth bothering with, but some of us are getting really worried about this!’_

The there was one just after the end of lunchtime…

_‘Is something going on? You’d usually email me back by now! And Sonia’s not replied either! Please just tell me what’s happening over there?’_

Then there were a few more emails in the afternoon…

_‘If this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny Ishimaru! There’s people over here talking about trying to break into the main course! And I think some of them have already left to go protest at the gates. THIS IS SERIOUS!’_

_‘I’m starting to think you’re not responding because this IS true. Is that it? The council HAVE been murdered and you’re too busy dealing with that to reply to me? Is that it?’_

_‘If it’s NOT true you need to tell me! I told a few people I’d emailed you and now everyone keeps asking me if you’ve replied yet! I don’t need a whole essay or anything written on it! Just a couple of lines to show you can be bothered to respond at all! Is that too much to ask!?’_

There was a gap in time before the next email, it seemed she’d waited until after classes finished…

_‘I just had to tell my whole class that I still don’t have an answer from you. Half of them said I’m an idiot for waiting and went to join the protest. I’m starting to think they’re right! That I’m an idiot for ever wanting to join this messed up school at all, let alone PAYING for it!_

_The other half are going to the movie club, to see if you or your other friends can be bothered to come and explain what’s going on… If I don’t hear from you by the time it would usually start, then maybe you’ll hear me from the front gate, because I’ll be there yelling what a fucking creep you are for going along with this!’_

That was the last email… And Kiyotaka doubted anyone would have gone to the movie club, not after the news they’d had! _Urrghh_ … What a _mess!_ If only he’d kept his wits about him, he could have responded to her and told her that it clearly wasn’t true _before_ she and all the other Reserve Course students had come to protest!

Instead he’d sat around being useless and doing _nothing_ to prevent this! No wonder they’d all looked so angry out there… it had been _three days_ and he still hadn’t responded to _any_ of this!

Well… better late than never… and the sooner the better!

_‘Dear Hirayama,_

_I’m truly sorry I failed to respond to your emails before now!_

_The truth of the matter is… that video isn’t entirely untrue. The part about the student council being murdered is true, and the news shocked me so much that I haven’t checked my emails since hearing it._

_However, I can assure you that the rest of the information in the video is false! The school certainly isn’t engaging in ‘unsanctioned human research’ using excess funding! And while they have asked us not to discuss the murders with people outside of the school, it’s because they’re concerned that if knowledge of the security flaw that allowed the murder to happen got out, then other students would be put at risk of opportunistic attacks! NOT because they have any sort of connection to the murderer!’_

…Was that really all he could say? He’d not even touched on all the parts where they brought up the fact that the Reserve Course students were effectively funding the rest of the school...

_‘I understand that you’re all, rightly, angry at the poor quality of your side of the school. But I really am committed to working towards improving it, and that won’t be affected by this tragedy! If you and your fellow students would be willing to end this protest, then I’m sure we can work together and begin some peaceful negotiations into the matter with the headmaster!_

_Best wishes,_

_Kiyotaka.’_

She responded quite quickly, so Kiyotaka wasn’t too surprised that her email was only a few lines long…

_‘Do you actually have any proof of that? As in, proper undeniable proof that NONE of our money is going towards experiments? Or are you just saying that because you like to think the headmaster would tell you if they WERE using our money to do experiments?’_

Proof that _none_ of the money was going towards experiments…? And what did mean he’d _like to think_ the headmaster would tell him…?

_‘Dear Hirayama,_

_I have to admit that I don’t have any substantial evidence to prove that the school is not funding illegal experiments. Doing so would require accounting for absolutely every expenditure the school has, which isn’t something I’m in a position to do._

_As for the headmaster, I’m sure he wouldn’t approve of such testing in the first place, so there wouldn’t be anything to tell me! He’s doing his best to make Hope’s Peak the best school it possibly can be, although I’ve admit he’s misjudged where the balance between the main and reserve courses should be. That’s why we really need to start working together to talk to him!_

_Best wishes and regards,_

_Kiyotaka._

This time the response took a lot longer to arrive, long enough that Kiyotaka was able to head to the kitchen and pick up some of Mondo’s favourite foods before it came through…

_You know, I can’t tell if you’re just lying through your teeth or if you’re actually stupid enough to believe you’re important to this school, and that all your little ‘committees’ and ‘peaceful negotiations’ and ‘submitting suggestions to the headmaster’ can actually change ANYTHING!_

_Did you know, I had the Eco club go through that whole process you told me about? We came up with over a hundred ways to reduce waste in the school. You know how many he approved?_

_NONE OF THEM! He rejected ALL of them! He didn’t even EXPLAIN himself, he just said the whole thing was ‘too impractical’!_

_And you’re trying to convince me that he’d CARE enough about us to negotiate? I knew that wasn’t true even BEFORE I watched my friends get kicked to the floor from five feet up by that bastard you’ve got guarding the gate!_

_The school only cares about the students on YOUR side of the school! So unless I see some real evidence, I’m not going to believe they didn’t use OUR money on whatever creepy screwball science experiment they decided they wanted to do!’_

Oh dear… So she still wanted evidence. And it appeared what little trust she might have had in him at one point had been well and truly broken, thanks to both the overly-violent sounding response to the protest, and the slight from the headmaster…

Kiyotaka hadn’t even _known_ the Eco Club had come up with a _hundred_ suggestions and submitted them all at once! If he’d still be attending their meetings, then he could have told them it’d probably be better to submit the ones that were easier to implement _first_ , and to do it in smaller groups, so it didn’t seem like they were asking the impossible of him all at once.

…Perhaps he could try one more time to convince her that he _would_ be able to help improve the situation for the Reserve Course.

_‘Dear Hirayama,_

_I’m sorry to hear about the way the guards have been treating you! That sort of violence is certainly not acceptable and I will do my best to make sure that guard is punished for hurting your friends, and that nothing like that ever happens again!_

_But I honestly do believe I can change things within the school, and that I’m not being foolish for doing so! But you have to understand that the changes will be smaller and slower than what you might be hoping for. Your suggestions are a good example of that! The headmaster might not be willing to consider all one hundred of them, but if you were to take the most convenient five or ten of them, then I’m sure he’d approve them! It might not be exactly what you want, but you will have made SOME change to the school! I can help you look through the list and make some suggestions, if you want._

_As for the school only caring about my side of it… That might be true, however I’ve been discussing likely formats for the new student council, and I can assure you that THIS year, we’re going to be making a big push to work with your council and force the school to improve things for you! Even if it’s true they don’t care about your council, they’ll care enough about OURS to listen if WE complain on your behalf!_

_So I hope that you’ll be able to trust me enough to work with me on this!_

_Best wishes and regards,_

_Kiyotaka’_

He sent off the email, then looked around the room, trying to decide if there was anything he could do… Mondo was still fast asleep. Kiyotaka wondered if he’d got much sleep these last three days, or if he’d spent the whole time being too busy looking after Kiyotaka… He didn’t look like he’d been showering, so him not sleeping wasn’t unfeasible either…

Although… speaking of not _showering…_

Kiyotaka cautiously smelt himself… Well! That answered the question of what he could do while he waited for another response!

Fifteen minutes later, feeling much more refreshed now both he and his uniform were clean, Kiyotaka checked the tablet and found another new email, so he sat himself down on the bed next to Mondo to read it…

_‘It’s only been three days and you’ve already decided to start replacing those kids from the council… What is **wrong** with you!?_

_I didn’t want to admit it, but I’m starting to think her highness is right about you! You don’t **care** about anyone! Everything you do is just to just to make **you** look good! That’s all this ‘Reserve Student Council’ was ever meant to do, wasn’t it!? Show off the fact that **you** can organise us! And then all you’d have to do was string us along all year, pretending the next stupid **wasteful** piece of paperwork was going to be the one that actually made a worthwhile change! All so you could go suck up to fucking ‘Headmaster Kirigiri’ and brag about how ‘engaged’ **you** made us all!_

_Well **fuck you Ishimaru!** Fuck **you** and your stupid **headmaster** and this whole fucking **school!** Do you want to know what **I** think would be a worthwhile change to this place!? **THIS!!!!!!!!!**_

It looked like she’d put a picture into the email underneath that word, but Kiyotaka hesitated before scrolling down to it, as he considered the rest of her email…

Oh dear… mentioning the new council plans had been phenomenally idiotic, hadn’t it!? It hadn’t occurred to him that anyone might see it as a power grab… He and Togami had just agreed that their work was important, and should be carried on as soon as possible! But she hadn’t seen it that way at all… Goodness knows what was going to be in this picture. Probably something like him getting kicked out of the school…

He dragged his finger up on the tablet screen to bring up the rest of the picture, the mass of red in it starting to make him feel sick before he even realised what it was she’d sent…

It was that picture of the _council…_ the one from the video… But why would she think _that_ was a good change? Or any kind of change? It had already happened…

“… _AAARGHH!”_ Kiyotaka screamed when he saw it… Nearer the bottom of the picture… that was _his_ head! And the _headmaster’s_ was…

 _“TAKA!?”_ Kiyotaka almost screamed again as Mondo woke up with a start, yelling his name frantically and looking back and forth across the room for a while. “Taka! What’s wrong, what _happened!?”_

“Ah… I…” Kiyotaka stammered. Mondo looked like he was in such a panic… It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to show him that gruesome picture of the council.

“…Your _tablet?”_ Unfortunately, Mondo realised what the problem was and grabbed it out of Kiyotaka’s hand before he could stop him. “Wha’didya…”

 _“Don’t!”_ Kiyotaka tried to snatch the device back before Mondo saw the picture, but it was too late… He could already see that Mondo’s eyes had widened and his pupils had dilated, he seemed to have stopped breathing and was just frozen in place, just staring… “…Don’t _look_ at it!”

Mondo didn’t offer any resistance as Kiyotaka repeated Togami’s actions from earlier, taking the tablet and exiting out of the awful image… But unlike Kiyotaka, that didn’t seem to do anything to help. Mondo was still staring ahead of him, not breathing…

“…Mondo…?” Kiyotaka tried to shake his shoulder, “Mondo you need to _breathe!”_

 _“hhhh…”_ Mondo let in a small amount of breath, to Kiyotaka’s relief, as his head turned to face him and he reached out to touch Kiyotaka with shaking hands… “ _hhhh… hhhh… hhhh….”_

…But he was still having trouble breathing… and he was still shaking… and he was starting to sweat heavily… and he looked _terrified…_

“Mondo… Mondo, what’s wrong…?” The picture was bad… but it shouldn’t have been _this_ bad! Something was _wrong,_ and he didn’t know _what!_ He needed _help!_

The medical centre! He could call for help on Mondo’s phone! “I’m going to call for help!” Kiyotaka told him, feeling Mondo’s pockets and thankfully managing to find the phone, unlock it with Mondo’s shaking finger and call the correct number…

“Medical Cen…”

“It’s Mondo Oowada!” Kiyotaka blurted down the phone immediately, “I… I don’t know what’s happening but he’s shaking and struggling to breathe, and, and _sweating…”_

“Where…!?”

_“His ROOM!”_

“We’ll be right there, keep us updated if anything changes.”

“O-okay…” Kiyotaka nodded down the phone, then looked to see if Mondo had changed at all… Oh no, he looked like he’d stopped breathing again! “Mondo… Mondo, help’s on the way, but _please_ keep trying to breathe!”

 _“hhh?”_ Mondo managed to inhale a little, and shakily reached out and grabbed Kiyotaka’s arms tightly, but was it just him or was Mondo getting _worse_ …? _“hhh… hhh… hh… hh…”_

Luckily for him, there was a click as the door opened, and Kiyotaka turned to see a group of medics bringing a trolley into the room! “Medical services… we had a call…”

“Yes! It’s Mondo’s here, he…” Kiyotaka tried to explain, as Mondo didn’t seem to be able to do anything except clutch Kiyotaka’s arms and stare at the men with a panicked expression. “He…”

“Let’s have a look…” The man at the front of the group walked towards them and went to put a hand on Mondo’s shoulder… But Mondo let go of Kiyotaka’s right arm and wildly swung his hand out at the man before he got the chance!

 _“Mondo!_ What are you _doing!?_ He’s here to _help!”_ Kiyotaka cried, trying to grab hold of Mondo’s wrist so the medic could do his job… But then _that_ just made Mondo panic even more and pull his right hand away, even as he gripped Kiyotaka all the more tightly with his left one! And he’d stopped breathing again…! “Ah! Mondo! Mondo, _breathe!”_

 _“hh! Hh… h… h… h…”_ Mondo did, but they were such sharp, shallow breaths Kiyotaka wasn’t sure they were doing anything at all for him…

“...Did anything happen that might have stressed him out, or raised his heart rate, before this started?” The medic asked him, as Mondo lowered his free hand and grabbed Kiyotaka’s right arm again.

“Err… _yes.”_ Kiyotaka answered, not able to tear his eyes away from Mondo’s terrified ones…

“Should have figured…” The medic sighed, and then crouched down on the floor so he was looking up at Mondo. “Oowada…? Oowada, I know it doesn’t feel like it to _you,_ but you’re going to be alright…”

He _was!?_ Or was the medic just trying to calm him down…?

“But it’ll help if you start focusing on breathing for longer… So I’m going to count in fives, and you breathe in and out as I count, alright…? So, _in_ for one, two, three , four, five… _out_ for one _,_ two, three, four, five…”

A _breathing exercise!?_ How was _this_ supposed to stop… whatever Mondo was suffering from!? Shouldn’t they be giving him some _actual_ help…!? What were the _other_ medics doing…? They were just standing around watching!

“It’d help if _you_ join in to.” One of them suggested, as she noticed Kiyotaka staring incredulously at them all.

“Err…” Kiyotaka looked at the medic currently counting Mondo’s breaths, who glanced away from Mondo for a moment to give him a stern nod. “A-alright…”

 _“In,_ two, three, four, five…”

He couldn’t tell how this was supposed to help though…

 _“Out,_ two, three, four, five…”

Mondo could barely keep breathing in for _two,_ let alone _five!_

 _“In,_ two, three, four, five…”

And he didn’t seem to be getting any better, either…

 _“Out,_ two, three, four, five…”

…But at least he didn’t seem to be getting any _worse…_

 _“In,_ two, three, four, five…”

And his eyes weren’t… _as_ panicked now…

 _“Out,_ two, three, four, five…”

“And… Kiyotaka could feel his hands weren’t shaking as badly as before…

 _“In,_ two, three, four, five…”

And he’d managed to breath in all the way to _three,_ that time!

 _“Out,_ two, three, four, five…”

So… this _was_ helping…?

It took a while… A _long_ while... But eventually Mondo seemed to calm down and was able to breathe again, though he looked absolutely exhausted…

“…Looks like the worst of it has passed…” The medic finally stopped counting. “Oowada…?”

 _“Urghh…”_ Mondo responded with a groan, then recognised that he’d been spoken to… “Uhh… _yeah?”_

“Is this the first time you’ve had a panic attack?”

 _A panic attack!?_ He’d _heard_ the phrase, but he’d never really realised that they were like _that…_

“… _That’s_ what they are…?” Mondo asked, wearily. “I… I’ve had some before… But, like, three years ago…”

 _Three years ago…?_ That would have been around the time of Daiya’s death… and now the _council_ deaths had triggered another one…

“Well, you’re hardly the only student who’s had one _this_ week…” _Really!?_ Kiyotaka _really_ ought to have known how to deal with it better, then! “Here… We have some pamphlets with advice on how to help deal with them… but they’ll usually pass within twenty or thirty minutes…”

 _What!?_ Kiyotaka checked his watch as the medics passed them both a leaflet… It really _had_ only been around twenty minutes! It had _felt_ like an _hour!_ So how bad must it have been for _Mondo…?_

“So it’s just… remember to breathe, and then wait shit out?” Mondo asked.

“Well… having someone around to calmly talk you through it and remind you that things will be alright can help…” The medic glanced at Kiyotaka, and he cringed at the reminder that he had done the _exact opposite of that._ “And focusing on your other senses by holding things or smelling things can help as well.”

“’Kay… got it.” Mondo nodded.

“But for now, make sure you drink and eat enough, and get some rest. Panic attacks take it out of you!” The medic finished, as the others began moving the trolley back towards the door to leave. “And remember that there’s counselling available twenty-four/seven.”

“Thank you! And thank you for all your help!” Kiyotaka remembered to thank them, just in time before they headed back out of the room, leaving him and Mondo alone… And Mondo looked _terrible…_ “… _Right!_ Food and drink! And then you need rest!” Kiyotaka remembered the advice they’d just been given, moving to get some of the foods he’d brought back for Mondo. “I’ve got some of those iced coffees you like in the fridge, as well as some potato chips and sweets… and those cup ramens! I’ll just go out and get some boiled water for one and…”

 _“No!”_ Mondo suddenly yelled, “Uhh… I… I… ain’t in the mood for ramen… just the coffee and chips…”

“Ah… alright!” Kiyotaka quickly got what he’d asked for and opened them up for Mondo, who gulped down most of the coffee in one go, but then slowly ate only half the packet of chips… “Do you need another drink? I can get you some wat…”

“No, just… just c’mere…” Mondo threw the rest of the chips onto the bedside table and pulled Kiyotaka close to him. “And… and just stay _here_ alright… ‘cause… ‘cause I need to sleep, and… and…”

He wanted to hug Kiyotaka while he fell asleep… Well, if that would help him relax enough _to_ sleep… “Of course…” Kiyotaka agreed, shifting his position so he could sink a little closer into Mondo’s body and move his arms around to rub Mondo’s back in what he hoped would be a comforting way.

“Thanks…” Mondo murmured, and within a few minutes he’d relaxed enough that Kiyotaka suggested they both lie down properly in the bed together, and soon enough Mondo was properly asleep…

…He looked handsome… He _always_ looked handsome… But he didn’t look _well._ Even in his sleep, he looked worried, and it was obvious that Kiyotaka would really have to encourage him to eat and drink tomorrow… And take a shower and brush his teeth as well. Probably best to do all that, then go and organise counselling sessions for them both.

And then there was the reserve course situation to deal with, not that there was much he _could_ do about that! Just talk to Togami and apologise for not being able to convince Hirayama, and maybe try and contact the headmaster and ask him what _his_ plan was for disproving the video and calming the Reserve Course down were. And on top of that, it would be Friday, so he’d have to try and call his father in the evening…

But… right now, his main concern was going to be making sure that Mondo was alright… Regardless of how irresponsible and selfish that was.

* * *

(Friday, September 21st 2012)

_Mondo was stood at the side of the road… THE road, while sirens blazed and acid smoke filled the dark sky around him…_

_One of THESE dreams, huh? He didn’t know why he still kept having ‘em… or why he never could stop his body from walking out across the red-splattered road. Not like he didn’t know what was there on the other side of the street. Not like Daiya had ever been sitting up, laughing off the hit by the time Mondo made his way across the pool of blood…_

_And it was a DEEP pool, today. So deep a part of him wondered if he was gonna sink in it instead of crossing it, and so wide he couldn’t see the other side of the road he was trudging towards… All he could see was bits of limbs, bodies floating in the red sea, the face of a girl he remembered Taka talking to on occasion, staring at him lifelessly as he walked past._

_The student council… that’s what this was. Where this never-ending pool of blood he was slowly making his way through had come from. But… that didn’t have anything to do with HIM!_

_He sped up his pace… trying to ignore the whispered accusations around him, and the growing sense that something had gone terribly wrong… If he could just get to the end of this, get to the spot where he’d picked up Daiya, then this dream would go back to normal and he’d freak out and wake up! He just had to keep going forward, ignore all the blood, ignore the council member’s bodies, ignore the look of anger on the headmaster’s head as it floated past him… he could see the spot now! The streetlight he’d held Daiya under that last time…_

_But he couldn’t see Daiya’s body under it… just a single head, with short black hair._

_“…You made a promise, bro…” Daiya’s voice echoed through the air, as Mondo ran towards the light, praying that it wasn’t who he thought it was under there, that he hadn’t broken his promise to the headmaster, that there was still a chance he’d find Taka somewhere else, safe and sound and NOT just a head floating through dark, wet, blood…_

_But every step he took just made it clearer that that was exactly what had happened, that Mondo had FAILED… he’d been too WEAK to protect Taka, and here was the evidence, his head just lying there, glaring at him under the light, as if it wanted to say…_

“Mondo!” _Its mouth started moving, as_ Mondo felt something grabbing his arm and shoulder… “Mondo, WAKE UP!”

Mondo’s squeezed his eyes shut as his body jolted, and when he opened them again, he was still staring straight into Taka’s face… but this time Taka was moving, worrying over him, eyes darting up and down as his hand stroked Mondo’s forehead soothingly… His hand which was still attached to his head, along with the rest of him…

Mondo looked around the rest of the room. The light was dim… There was only one reading lamp on… Taka must have just been woken up by Mondo freaking out in his sleep… _Right_ … ‘cause that shit hadn’t been real… it was a nightmare. He’d _known_ it was a nightmare, so why’d he forget that as soon as he thought Taka was in trouble…?

“Mondo… how do you feel?” Taka was asking him, gently, as he picked up Mondo’s hand and put it over his other arm, as if to prove he was really all there and alright… “Should I count your breathing…?”

 _What?_ Oh… Taka was thinking this was another of those panic attack things… That made sense. The _last_ one had happened ‘cause he’d dreamt of seeing Taka’s face in a bloody pile of council students…

“N-nah… I’m okay…” Mondo stammered, which probably didn’t make him seem okay, but at least it made Taka look less worried about him. “Just a nightmare… A really fucked up nightmare…”

“Ah… do you want to talk about it…?” Taka asked, eyes full of nothing but concern, all for Mondo right now…

 _Damn,_ it’d be so _easy_ to tell him all about it. That he was supposed to be protecting Taka, but part of him was starting to worry he wasn’t up to the task, and would end up getting him killed… at least, he assumed that was why he’d started having dreams about Taka being alongside all the dead council members… Taka would probably have a bunch of great ideas on how he could help protect himself, and maybe be able to convince Mondo to quit worrying about it…

But… Sakura was right, he couldn’t tell Taka _he_ needed protecting! It wasn’t fair to make him feel like everything that had happened recently was _his_ fault, just ‘cause Mondo was getting scared of failing to look after him and losing him forever… He’d just have to settle for telling Taka _half_ of it…

“Just… another dream where you were dead…” He mumbled, embarrassed to admit even _that_ much… After all, was it really fair to tell Taka he was having nightmare’s ‘ _cause_ of him…?

“Oh… _Mondo…!”_ Taka didn’t seem to mind… He just leant in close to Mondo’s face and wrapped his arms around him, bringing their bodies closer as he planted a kiss on Mondo’s cheek. “I’m _fine!_ You see? You don’t have to worry about me!”

He _did…_ But he didn’t wanna tell Taka that, so… “I know… It’s just…” Damnit, how was he supped to explain this without clueing Taka in on it… “I dunno…”

“Of _course…_ Just because you _know_ something’s illogical, doesn’t stop it from bothering you!” Taka came up with an explanation all by himself, before kissing Mondo’s cheek again… “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help…”

“…The kisses are nice.” Mondo admitted, which made Taka shiver giddily, before starting to give him more kisses… Kisses which only got harder and faster once Mondo remembered that he could move his own arms and pull Taka in even tighter to his body…

Fuck, they hadn’t done anything like this since Taka left _last_ Friday, had they? He’d almost forgot how good it was, just to hold Taka in his arms and be able to smell how fresh and clean he was. To feel his lips moving down towards his jawline as Taka worked to make him feel better. To hear the little hums of happiness as Taka started to relax, and take slow deep breaths that Mondo could feel swelling against his chest, reminding him that Taka was _alive…_

“…And don’t stop breathing…” Mondo muttered, as that thought occurred to him.

“I don’t forget to _breathe_ unless our tongues are involved!” Taka pointed out, getting the wrong idea…

“No, I meant it helps that I can feel you breathing.” Mondo explained, “’Cause it means you’re alright…”

“Oh! I see!” Taka seemed mollified, and carried on with the kissing for a while, pausing for a moment when he reached a spot on Mondo’s neck… “Perhaps it’d also help if you listened to my heartbeat, when we go back to sleep…”

 _Taka’s heartbeat?_ It’d mean sleeping with his ear on Taka’s chest, which’d be a bit weird. But if it’d mean having a steady reminder that Taka was healthy the whole night… “Yeah… that sounds good.” He agreed, although Taka had already gone back to kissing down his neck and barely responded…

…Taka _was_ healthy, right? Mondo _would_ be able to hear his heartbeat just from lying on his chest, wouldn’t he? Just ‘cause he couldn’t feel it right _now,_ when Taka was pressed against him and running kisses down to his shoulder, didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to hear it if they were lying down together… especially if he took off Taka’s shirts. Heck, he might even be able to feel if _now_ if he did that…

Taka didn’t seem to mind as Mondo started undoing his buttons, only pausing the kisses to help shrug off the blazer and undershirt, and also encourage Mondo to take off his tank-top by running his hands under and up the thing. But even with _both_ of them shirtless he still couldn’t feel it, not even when he pressed Taka’s chest up against his while Taka started planting kisses on his lips…

Maybe he’d have more luck feeling for it with his hand… But all he felt when he tried it was Taka’s body shivering against his hand… “…Am I in the right place…?”

 _“Huh…?”_ Taka stopped nibbling at Mondo’s lower lip and gave him a confused look.

“For feeling your heartbeat… is this the right place?” Mondo pressed his hand against Taka’s chest, so he could feel where Mondo was trying.

“Oh… y-you were…” Taka blinked as he looked down at Mondo’s hand, his face starting to turn red. “Err… That _is_ the right place, I think… But it’s not very easy to _feel_ a heartbeat through there, that’s why people usually _listen_ for it _…_ or use another pulse point…”

“Huh…” Mondo leant down and tried to get his head low enough to hear it, but it was kinda hard at the angle they were at, and as Taka’s body wasn’t staying still… “Could you lie down?”

“Ah… O-of course!” Taka quickly nodded and laid down on his back, watching as Mondo shifted his body down the bed a bit so he’d be able to lie on his side, with his ear pressed to Taka’s chest…

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“Yeah… that’s it…” Mondo smiled as he heard the sound of a steady heartbeat. He didn’t have to worry about that anymore… and this way he was facing the door to the room, so he’d be more likely to notice if someone managed to break in… and Taka’s chest was rising and falling as he breathed in and out… He just needed to shift his arms and legs a little, to get comfortable.

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“Err… so… no more kisses?” Taka asked, as Mondo squeezed one arm under the small of his back and rested the other on top of his stomach.

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“Nah… this is good…” Mondo let out a deep breath as his body relaxed against Taka’s, and Taka brought up a hand and started stroking through Mondo’s hair…

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“A-alright… Goodnight, Mondo... And sleep well…”

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“Mmm… G’night, Taka…”

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

_…_

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…**ding dong...*_

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

_*ba-dumph… ba-…**ding dong…*_

_…_

_Wait… What happened…!?_

“Taka!?” Mondo shot up into a sitting position and turned to face the bed below as soon as he realised Taka’s heart had stopped, and he couldn’t feel his chest rising and falling anymore, probably because Taka’s whole _body_ had disappeared completely…

“Ah! Mondo! I’m so sorry!” Taka’s voice cried from his side, where he saw that Taka had apparently got up out of bed. “The doorbell was ringing, and I thought I could get up and answer without waking you…”

 _“What!? What were you thinking!?”_ Taka had almost just… let whoever the hell that was at the door _in!_ Without even waking him _up!_ What if it had been the _murderer!?_

“Err… that it would be rude to ignore them?” Taka blinked in confusion… which was fair, ‘cause _he_ didn’t have any clue how much danger he was in!

“Urgh… well… _next time,_ just wake me up, alright…” Mondo told him, “Thought your _heart_ had stopped there, for a minute…”

“Oh… Alright, then!” Taka agreed, as Mondo braced himself for a fight and opened the door up…

“Hey, Mondo!” It was Makoto again, although _this_ time he’d brought Chi along, instead of Hiro… “How are you guys!?”

“Uhh… we’re doing alright, thanks…” Mondo told them, as Taka came forward to see them.

“Err… yes!” Taka seemed to hesitate, glancing at Mondo before answering. “I… I’ve finally realised I shouldn’t just be sat around doing nothing!”

“Umm… well, I’m glad you’re feeling up to speaking…” Chi told him, “But if you need time to grieve…”

“No, no! Three days is _more_ than enough time for that! Now I need to be taking _action!”_ Taka insisted, “The council’s work won’t just do itself, after all…”

“Yeah… about that…” Makoto piped up, “Togami _did_ talk to you about that, right…? And you and him agreed what positions you’d be taking…?”

Wait… what were they talking about!? Taka taking a position on a council… _the_ council…!? The council that had already been murdered and would probably make an even _bigger_ target on Taka’s back!? “You’re making a _new student council!?”_

“Yes! Although _technically,_ Togami is the one forming it, as he’ll be acting as President…”

“What!? _Togami_ as president? Not you!?” Alright… so maybe _that’d_ mean Togami was taking most of the heat, but it’d still put _Taka_ in danger…

“It… It’s just a compromise for this year, because of what’s happened…” So just for one year… But they should have caught the guy who was after Taka by that time, right? “And Togami’s setting up a new position, for me to focus some of the council’s energy on the problems in the Reserve Course… Although I’m not sure how effective I’ll be in that role, now…”

“Umm… so emailing Hirayama didn’t go so well…?” Chi asked him.

“No… I made a complete mess of it…” Taka sighed, then glanced in his direction for a moment. “But I’d rather not discuss it right now… Why were you asking if I’d spoken to Togami?”

“Oh, _that..._ It’s just that Togami ‘had a meeting with the headmaster’…” Makoto told him sarcastically, “And told him you’d agreed not to fight him for the role of President. And we just wanted to check he’d not lied about that to try and get the new council formed faster…”

“What!? You honestly expected him to lie about that!?” Taka cried.

“Well, _no…”_ Chi frowned, “But we didn’t expect him to barge his way into the headmaster’s office the first time it looked like there was no one else in there, either! So we thought we’d best check…”

“Ah… I see. He… _does_ seem to be taking this a _little_ faster than I would have…” Taka’s brow furrowed. “So does that mean he’s already organised an AGM for it?”

“No... The headmaster told him he’s going to have to wait a _month_ before doing any of that…” Makoto told him, to Mondo’s relief… at least Kirigiri had the sense to make them all wait until after the guy targeting council members was caught…

“A _month!?”_ Taka shouted, “But… that’ll hardly leave us anytime at _all_ to organise the school festival!”

“I think Togami said _that’s_ going to get delayed as well…” Chi told him, “Seeing as the school’s having a big ‘parade’ right now, instead, they won’t _need_ a festival right after it…”

There was a parade going on? He’d not heard about that… Shit, going to something like that’d probably be _really_ dangerous, with all the strangers walking around! He’d have no idea _who_ he could trust out there, and it’d be so easy for Taka to wander off and get lost… And to top it all off, Mondo felt fucking _terrible_ today… He barely felt like he was awake enough to protect Taka _now,_ just with the _door_ open, let alone in a fucking _parade!_ He’d have to find some way of convincing Taka not to go to it…

Except… the way they’d all started talking about it, it seemed like none of them wanted to go anyway. Weird, he’d have guessed they’d all be all over that kinda thing… in any _other_ situation, Mondo would have been thinking of going for cotton candy and stuff… Still, at least that made his life easier right now… All he had to do was wait for these two to leave so he could shut the door and stay inside, where Taka was safe…

“So, do you guys wanna come out for breakfast with us…?” And Makoto immediately fucked with _that_ plan!

 _“No!”_ Mondo snapped, glaring at him for being such an idiot.

“No…?” Great, now _Taka_ was looking at him, all upset that they weren’t all gonna hang out together… “Err… Right! Because Mondo had a terrible night last night, so we’ve only just got up and haven’t showered or anything…”

“Uhh… Yeah…” Mondo agreed with him, even though he didn’t really give a fuck about going out without a shower. “We’ll just cook up some rice in here…”

“Umm… okay…” Chi looked like he was worried about it, but going along with it anyway… “Do you guys have enough rice left?”

“Uhh…” Fucking _shit,_ they _didn’t,_ did they!?”

“I don’t think we do…” Taka agreed, “How would feel about bringing us back some, and then maybe we could all eat together in here…?”

“Sure! We’ll be right back, Taka!” Makoto agreed, and then the pair of them headed off…

“Oh! Err… I hope you don’t mind me inviting them to eat breakfast in here…” Taka muttered apologetically a moment after they left. “I wasn’t really thinking, I just thought it would be nice to eat with them…”

“Huh? That’s fine, Taka!” Mondo patted him on the shoulder. “Why would I mind them eating with us?”

“I don’t know…” Taka admitted, “But I also don’t understand why you didn’t want to go _out_ and eat with them…”

 _Because it’s safer in here… you’d be in danger out there… I dunno if I’m strong enough to protect you… especially not today… And I don’t wanna lose you if I’m not… But I can’t **tell** you any of that… _“I… dunno… I just don’t wanna go _out_ there today…” Mondo lied, vaguely, “I wanna stay in here...”

“Ah… well… the pamphlet _does_ say you might need extra rest, after your panic attack!” Taka held his arm comfortingly and kissed his cheek. “And spending all that time looking after me can’t have helped! So now it’s my turn to stay in and look after _you!”_

 _Thank fuck for that…_ He wouldn’t have to worry about coming up with a better reason for them to stay inside until tomorrow… And hopefully he’d feel better by then too! “Thanks, Taka…”

“Your welcome… now, you sit down while I start getting us all some drinks out!” Taka insisted, as he walked Mondo back to the bed, “Oh! And, err… I’m sorry if I caused you any problems last night, with the coffee…”

“What?” The hell was Taka talking about? “Why would the coffee have caused me a problem?”

“Ah… because, according to the leaflet, you’re not supposed to have it anymore!” Taka explained, pointed to that thing about the doctors had left yesterday. “Apparently caffeine can make the panic attacks worse, along with alcohol and smoking!”

“Taka, I ain’t smoked for half a year.” And beer shouldn’t be an issue unless someone snuck it in and asked why _he_ wasn’t having any, but giving up coffee was gonna suck…

“I know!” Taka smiled, like he was so proud of Mondo for it… “I just thought you ought to know everything about them! Just… to avoid it happening again!”

“I suppose you’re right…” Mondo sighed, “Just… wait ‘till _after_ breakfast to lemme know about the rest of it, okay?” Last thing he wanted was word getting out that it might be possible to fuck him over with a cup of _coffee!_

“Alright!” Taka nodded, and carried on setting out drinks on the desk…

In the end, breakfast was nice. Just… being able to listen to Taka and Makoto and Chi talk about random shit… it’s was like everything was normal again, for a while. Except for Makoto upsetting Taka by making a comment about Mondo keeping himself locked up in his room this whole time… There was a moment after the pair of them left when Mondo thought Taka was gonna try and _make_ him go outside, but in the end he decided against it and suggested he read Mondo the leaflet instead…

That sure as hell beat _Mondo_ having to struggle though it! Especially when his eyes felt so heavy that he could barely make them open enough to look at the pamphlet when Taka was pointing shit out in it… Hell, he wasn’t really managing to make much sense of what Taka _was_ saying…

“…Mondo, are you falling asleep again?” Aww, shit! Taka had noticed he was barely paying attention.

“Sorry! I’m… I’m awake!” Mondo tried to open his eyes to convince Taka, although the yawn he had to stifle when he did it didn’t help at all… “Uhh… just… missing the coffee, maybe…?”

“Hmm… Is that all it is?” Taka looked worried, “I mean… if you’ve been having nightmares, and then that panic attack yesterday… maybe you still need to catch up on some sleep!”

“I-I guess…?” It felt kinda pathetic to go straight back to bed after eating breakfast, especially after he crashed out yesterday and apparently they hadn’t had breakfast until it was almost 12 o’clock anyway… but he hadn’t slept since _Sunday_ before then, and he really _did_ feel like shit today… And he wouldn’t have woken up in the _first_ place if Taka hadn’t moved his heartbeat out from under him… “…Can I listen to your heart again?”

“Ah! Err… of course!” Taka’s cheeks turned a little bit pink at the question. “Oh, but, err… Hmm… Just… let me go to the bathroom and then grab a few things first!”

After what felt like a fucking _age,_ Taka was finally armed with several books and the tablet with Nanami on it, and was lying down on the bed, holding a book up to his face experimentally… “Yes! This should work! Now I can look after you _and_ carry on with my studies!”

Damn… he looked so cute, getting all happy about it! Mondo could help but break into a smile of his own as he quickly slid down the bed and cuddled up to Taka’s torso like he’d done last night, giving the guy a little squeeze of appreciation before he grabbed the duvet and threw it over himself, so he could relax and listen to Taka’s heart again…

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

…

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“Mondo…?”

_*ba-dumph… ba-dumph… ba-dumph…*_

“Errm… _Mondo…!”_

 _“Urg…”_ Why was he being shaken around…?

“Mondo, I’m sorry, but I need to get up!”

“Huh…?” Oh, yeah… he’d fallen asleep _on_ Taka… Guy probably needed another trip to the bathroom, or something… “Right… Sorry.”

“Thank you!” Taka said cheerfully, once Mondo had rolled over onto his back, and moved to sit on the edge of the bed as he put his shirt and blazer back on. “I probably won’t be long…”

“It’salright…” Mondo yawned. Hell, it was pretty nice of Taka to let him sleep on top of him all day… According to his clock it was almost fucking _8pm…_ “I ain’t gonna complain if ya wanna take some time to stretch and stuff…”

“Hmm… oh! No, I meant… I’m not exactly hopeful he’ll speak to me this week…” Wait… who was Taka talking about…? “So chances are, I won’t spend the whole fifteen minutes there…”

Fifteen minutes? This week? Why was Taka acting like this was a thing he always did…?

_The phone call with his old man!_

_SHIT!_ Why hadn’t Mondo remembered that!? Taka was already dressed and _halfway to the door!_ “Wait! Lemme come!” At least _that_ way he’d be able to look after Taka… he should be able to manage going _that_ far out of the room…

“You don’t have to that! I’ll be alright _this_ time!” Goddammit, Taka just thought he was asking to be supportive! He wasn’t _stopping!_ “You can just rest up here! Or maybe take a shower, if you’re feeling more awake…”

 _“No!”_ Mondo’s heart started racing as he swung his legs out the bed and stood up to grab Taka before he _went outside without Mondo there to protect him_ …

Or he _tried_ to… But he forgot about the duvet, which twisted round his legs and sent him to the ground with a painful thump that knocked the air out of his lungs…

 _“*Caff…*” Fuck!_ Stupid, stupid, stupid! That had given Taka the time to open the door and now he was gonna _leave the room unprotected cause_ _Mondo’s legs weren’t working well enough to stand so he wasn’t strong enough to look after Taka and now he was gonna lose him forever and…_

 _NonononononoNO!_ He _couldn’t_ let Taka get out! He _had_ to protect him! Even if it meant crawling along the damn _floor_ to _grab him_ and _make_ him stay!

“…Wha…? Mondo, why…?” _Somehow_ Mondo managed to make it there in time to stop him going through the door, but he still had it open and Mondo’s hands felt so weak and shaky Taka could probably just walk right out anytime he wanted…

 _“Youcan’tgoout!”_ Mondo was so out of breath he barely managed to shout a sentence... Why did his lungs hurt just from _that?_ “You… you… you gotta… _hurk…_ ”

Fuck… Fuck he couldn’t _breathe!_ And… And his heart was so _loud!_ Was he having a heart attack!? Shit, why did this have to happen _now!?_ He needed to stop Taka going out but he _couldn’t_ because his body had decided it was gonna just start fucking _dying_ right when he’d needed to _work_ and now Taka was gonna _leave_ and get _killed_ like those two _dreams_ he’d had where his head was surrounded by blood and…

“Mondo…” * _Click*_ Huh…? Taka was still here? And… he’d shut the _door?_ Was he _staying…?_ “Ah… Mondo’s it’s alright…”

Now he kneeling down next to Mondo… and he wasn’t making any attempt to get up, thank _fuck!_ He was staying in! But…

Mondo’s chest was still pounding so hard it was almost all he could _hear!_ And his hands wouldn’t stop shaking, even though there was no reason to be worried anymore, and he could barely breathe and _something_ must be wrong with him! He didn’t know what or _why_ but he needed help and…

“Err… oh! You’re just having a _panic attack_ , Mondo!” What!? No… no, Taka couldn’t be right! This… this couldn’t _just_ be another one of those, his heart was going _crazy!_ “So, let’s do those breathing exercises together! Alright…? Breathe in for _one, two, three, four, five…_

Oh shit… Taka was gonna just waste time with _that,_ instead of getting _help,_ wasn’t he!? “T.. Taka… It’s not…”

“Ah… Mondo, _please…_ I know it must be terrifying, but it’ll pass!” Mondo felt Taka’s smooth hand gently stroking the top of his own… “And it’ll _help_ if you focus on your breathing! So… let’s try again, shall we…? Breathe _in,_ two, three, four, five…”

 _Fuck…_ Taka wasn’t gonna listen to his unless he _tried,_ was he!? Shit… his only hope was to play along and hope Taka caught on quick that it wasn’t getting better!

 _“Hh… hh… hh…”_ Alright, so he’d been doing this a while now and nothing was happening, so Taka was sure to call _help,_ right!?

“…Good! You’re doing good!” What the _hell_ Taka!? Was he _blind!?_ “Breath _in…”_

 _“Hh… hhh… hhh…”_ C’mon, Taka _please!_ His heart was gonna _explode!_

“…Ah! You’re starting to look better now!” What the heck was he talking about!? “Breathe _in…”_

 _“Hhh… hhhh… hhhh…”_ Well… his heart didn’t feel _quite_ as bad now… but he still felt shaky… and weak…

“…It seems like the worst has passed…” Well… yeah, it _had,_ but… “Breathe _in…”_

 _“Hhhh… hhhhh… hhhhh…”_ Huh… actually… this now felt… like when the thing _last_ time had finished…

“…How are you feeling now? Can you talk?” Taka asked, stroking his thumb over the hand that Mondo now realised was gripping him tightly…

“Uhh…” How _did_ he feel? Wiped out, mostly. Like he’d just been in a major bust up with a rival gang or something… But… he was pretty sure he _wasn’t_ gonna die. “Yeah… and I’m… I’m tired, but I’m alright…”

“Oh, thank _goodness!”_ Taka pulled his body into a tight hug for a moment. “Actually… for a while there, I was starting to wonder if I was doing the right thing...”

“…Pretty sure you did…” Mondo had to admit, despite what he’d been thinking a few minutes ago.

“Thank you…” Taka let go of him, then frowned at him. “But… I don’t understand… What _caused_ that? Why was it a problem when _I_ tried to leave…?”

Aww, _hell…_ How was he supposed to explain _that,_ without letting Taka know he was the real target of the airport bomb and the council murder…? Unless he just tried to be vague about it… “I… I dunno. I just… didn’t want you to go out without me…”

“Huh…” Taka’s brows furrowed, probably trying to work out some deeper meaning to that. “Do you mean… because you’re scared you’ll get attacked without someone there to back you up…?”

 _“What!?”_ What the _hell_ had given him _that_ idea! “Is that a fucking joke? Why would _I_ need someone to…?”

 _“Mondo!”_ Taka glowered at him, “…There’s no shame in being frightened that something could happen to you… especially not when they still haven’t _caught_ the culprit! You not any less of a _man_ for wanting someone around to help protect you!”

“Uhh…” But… he _wasn’t_ scared of the killer attacking him! He was scared of the killer attacking _Taka!_

…But if he let Taka think _that_ was why Mondo was getting these fucking panic attack things, and why Mondo had decided to stay in here with him, then maybe he could convince Taka not to go outside alone, and to be more careful when they _did…_ and then Mondo wouldn’t have to worry so much about _losing_ him…

“Alright… yeah, that’s it.” Mondo lied, “I just… I keep thinking if I go out there, I’m gonna get jumped… especially if I ain’t got anyone who can kick ass watching my back…”

“I see… Well, how about _this!_ We won’t let each other out of our sights, from now, until the culprit’s been caught! And I _promise_ you I’ll be keeping an eye out for threats, the whole time!” It worked… it worked way quicker and easier than Mondo had expected it to. “I know! I’ll even take my _shinai_ with me, so I’ll be even better at fighting back in the, _spectacularly unlikely,_ event that we _do_ get attacked!”

“Alright. Thanks, Taka.” Taka was gonna be armed, and wouldn’t leave Mondo’s sight! That seemed safe enough to him. He shouldn’t lose Taka like that… “Let’s go, then!”

“Err… go _where?”_ Taka looked confused. Man, had Mondo made him _that_ worried, he’d completely forgot he’d been about to go out…?

“To ring your old man!” Not that the bastard deserved it, not after that fucking party…

“Ah… I… I can’t. I’ve missed the time when he’d be available…” Taka looked at his watch sadly.

“…Oh _shit!”_ That was right… Taka only had a fifteen-minute time slot to ring his Dad! And the panic attack had taken over _twenty!_ “Fuck, Taka, I’m so sorry...”

“Don’t apologise for needing my help!” Taka snapped at him, “…Besides. Now him and I are even, I suppose.”

Even!? _Ha!_ Like Taka not being _able_ to call him was the same thing as the guy being a dick and _hanging up on him_ two weeks ago!? It wouldn’t be ‘even’ unless Taka missed making a _dozen_ calls!

…But it sure didn’t look like Taka agreed with that, even as he _tried_ to hide the fact that he’d really wanted to try calling the guy again, and Mondo had just stopped him from doing it…

“Yeah, but still… I didn’t mean to make you miss him… Hell, I coulda just let you use _my_ phone from in here, if I hadn’t been such a dumbass about it…” If only he’d kept his cool instead of fucking _panicking_ like a weakling! “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you…”

“Ah… well… It _would_ be nice if you took a shower…” _What!?_ Did he smell _that_ fucking bad!? “And we _both_ need to go to counselling…”

Urg… Taka had a point _there,_ but… hell, even the thought of the _shower_ seemed like it was almost too much to deal with right now. “Do we havta do that _tonight?_ I know it’s twenty-four/seven, but I ain’t really up for baring my soul right now…”

“Ah… Well, I’m pretty sure I’m free all day tomorrow! Well… except for a meeting I had scheduled with the headmaster, but I imagine he’ll need to cancel that, so it shouldn’t matter… Although I suppose I should let him know if we end up going there at that time, just in case…” Taka was practically talking to himself at this point…

“Alright… So, shower _now,_ talking to a shrink tomorrow…” Mondo summed it up for him.

 _“Yes!”_ Taka beamed, “Nothing like a nice warm shower before bed to help us sleep!”

“Oh…” He wanted a shower to? “You want _me_ to go on guard first, then?”

“Err…” Taka blinked at the offer, like he was nuts for suggesting it. Prolly ‘cause Mondo hadn’t showered for five days. “… _No._ Y-you shower first. I’ll… I’ll go get my Shinai ready…”

“Okay.” Mondo nodded, as Taka found the pile of his stuff Mondo had brought with him on Monday. At least he was taking this seriously… “Thanks Taka..”

“Ah… You’re welcome!” Taka smiled… a bit _too_ widely… like he was having to force it…

Damn… he was trying to hide his disappointment over the phone call, wasn’t he? Mondo had _really_ best make sure he made that up to him, sometime…

* * *

(Saturday, September 22nd 2012)

“…Thanks for the update, Sakakura. Let me know if you get any information…”

“Yes, sir.” The head guard nodded respectfully and got up to leave Jin alone in his office.

 _Still_ no idea where Kamakura had gone, or who had sent that email to the Reserve course. And still no sigh of their ‘parade’ stopping anytime soon, either. Not that he would have expected it to, even after Togami had come in here two days ago, frantically insisting that he was starting a new student council and had made sure Ishimaru would deal with the protest outside, seeing as Jin hadn’t even been able to convince the Reserve Course not to believe in insane conspiracies…

So much for keeping that email a secret from the main course! He could only assume one of the Reserve students had forwarded it to Ishimaru, and then _he’d_ shown Togami it when the heir went to badger him into dealing with the parade…

If that had been the end of it, he wouldn’t have minded. Neither of them seemed to think there was any point spreading, what they believed to be, a nonsensical rumour around the school. But he was starting to suspect that _one_ of the had gone and shown it to _Kyoko_ as well…

He didn’t have any _proof_ of that. Just that he’d noticed she’d been a little… _different_ since yesterday. Just the tiniest bit _colder_ towards him, in the brief few minutes of spare time he’d had to go and visit her and see how she was coping.

He was starting to wonder if he should just come out and tell her the whole story… She’d already started investigating the student council murder by herself, and now she had a lead on who did it, even if she was probably thinking at this point that it was such an insane lead that it couldn’t possibly lead to anything… She’d still keep it in the back of her mind, and start to look into it in more detail when she found herself at a loss for any other ways to progress.

But he couldn’t just _tell_ her… The steering committee had made it clear they wanted this covered up. Who knew what they’d do if he just up and _told_ a student. Both to him _and_ Kyoko. So he’d just have to keep silent, and pray she didn’t find out too much too quickly and run afoul of Kamakura _or_ the committee…

And in the meantime, _he_ had to keep switching between meetings about the tragedy that had occurred almost a week ago, and normal meetings with people from outside of the school who didn’t know _what_ had happened…

Which, now he thought about it, he was surprised wasn’t happening right _now._ Hadn’t his schedule been booked solid for today…?

“Hisho, what’s my current appointment supposed to be?” Jin pressed the intercom button for his secretary…

“You’re scheduled to meet with Ishimaru to discuss the disciplinary committee’s actions this week, however he’s sent an email saying that he won’t be attending, as he assumes you’re too busy for it…” Of course. If only Togami had had that sense…

But it would have been good to be able to find out what was going on between Ishimaru and the Reserve course students, even if it was just to find out what kind of mind-set they were in, or if he’d been able to make any headway at _all_ into convincing them to stop…

Then again, he doubted Ishimaru would have been comfortable outright _cancelling_ a meeting, even if he thought it would be for Jin’s benefit it he did… “Has he mentioned any other way for me to contact him in case I _did_ have time?”

“Yes, sir. He says he’ll be in student services…”

“Thank you. I’ll be back before my next meeting…” Jin told her, as he got up and left the office. He was surprised Ishimaru had chosen to go to therapy _now._ Jin would have assumed he’d have tried to keep his timetable free, just on the off-chance that Jin did exactly what he was doing now. He hoped it wasn’t a sign that the boy wasn’t going to take the counselling services seriously. With everything that had happened to him recently, he probably needed them more than most.

But it turned out that Jin wouldn’t be interrupting Ishimaru’s therapy at all… when he got to student services, the boy was just sat in the waiting area, with a Shinai slung across his back, trying to read a textbook. Although given how often he was glancing off to the side at the nearest office, Jin would have guessed that he wasn’t doing much in the way of actual learning.

“…Did we run out of counsellors?” Jin asked the member of staff who was acting as a receptionist for now…

“No, sir! Ishimaru’s waiting because Oowada has started having panic attacks, and apparently they get worse if he can’t see Ishimaru…”

“Ah… I see.” Jin grimaced as he remembered the conversation he’d had with Oowada. He hadn’t been expecting the boy to get _worse_ as time went on, especially not once Ishimaru had come out of shock. Perhaps he should try and talk to him and convince him that Ishimaru was in no greater danger than any other of the students…

But for now, he headed over to interrupt Ishimaru’s futile attempts to study… “Good morning, Ishimaru…”

“Ah! _Headmaster!”_ Ishimaru bolted to his feet with rigid posture, “I… ahh… I wasn’t expecting you to come! I… err… don’t _actually_ have anything to report in the way of detentions or…”

“Of course not, Ishimaru…” Jin held up a hand to stop him. “I just thought this would be a good time to catch up with you about a few other things… Please, sit down.”

“Th-thank you, sir!” Ishimaru nodded and sat down, and Jin took the chair next to him. “So… what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, the main thing is that Togami tells me you’re going to be putting an end to this whole ‘parade’ business…” Jin made the mistake of trying to joke with Ishimaru, only for the boy’s face to freeze in guilty terror. “Not that I _thought_ you’d be able to, not with how angry they all are. But I would still like to know how it went…”

“Err… To be honest… I probably just made everything _worse_ …” Ishimaru admitted, shamefully. “I was attempting to convince her to negotiate with you, but then I said something I shouldn’t, and now she’s furious with _both_ of us!”

Hmm… with how embarrassed the boy was, it’s probably be easier for Jin to just _read_ whatever conversation he’d had with her… “This was all done by email, I assume? May I see them?”

“Err… Of course!” Ishimaru reached into his bag and brought out a tablet computer that he must have been given by Fujisaki at some point… “Ah… Just… don’t look at the picture down at the bottom!”

Jin barely glanced over the first part, where the reserve student gradually came to the conclusion that the video must be true due to Ishimaru’s lack of responses, and Ishimaru’s first email back to her was as Jin would expect: Naively denying the experimentation, but admitting the council had been murdered and then offering to continue helping to improve the reserve course.

She’d responded by asking for evidence and making a snide remark about how much he trusted Jin, so he’d pointed out how difficult proving the school _hadn’t_ been spending money on testing would be (even if they _actually_ hadn’t…) and been baited into heaping some (probably unearned) praise on Jin before suggesting negotiations…

Then her very next paragraph made Jin want to roll his eyes instead of reading it. What did she mean Ishimaru couldn’t help her change _anything…?_ They’d already made _numerous_ changes in the reserve department last year, thanks to his organisation! _Far_ more than a fledgling council and club would have had any hope of doing anywhere _else,_ let alone at Hope’s Peak…

But it seemed she was too put out by Jin having had to refuse the ridiculous list of suggestions she’d sent him two weeks ago to actually _remember_ any of that… And the actions the guards had done to defend the school hadn’t helped, either.

So then Ishimaru had tried to defend himself by pointing out that change was slow, offering to help her _again,_ and finally letting her know that he and Togami were planning to include a role _specifically_ to help communicate with the Reserve Course in the next council…

…And she’d just gone off at him in a childish rant, accusing him of only paying attention to the reserve students so he could brag about it to Jin (when in reality Ishimaru had always downplayed his involvement) and then ended the email by swearing at him and saying a worthwhile change to the school would be…

…That picture Ishimaru had warned him not to look at…

“What’s _in_ the picture?”

“Err… well… It’s, ermm… It’s a screenshot of the… the… the murder scene.” Ishimaru gulped, “Except… it’s… she’s added… _us…_ to it…”

What the _fuck?_ How had someone messed up enough to do _that_ ever managed to head up a council…?

Oh, right. _Ishimaru._ That was how! And _this_ was the thanks he was getting…

Well, this certainly answered the question as to whether the ‘parade’ could be reasoned with! He’d best forward this email chain to himself so he could show it to the steering committee, and _hopefully_ get them to start taking the rioting _seriously!_

“…I’m sorry, I thought I could help…” Ishimaru apologised. “Instead I’ve just put negotiations backwards…”

“…Ishimaru.” Jin put a hand on his shoulder, “This is _not_ someone who can be negotiated with!”

“Wh-what do you mean!? Because of the picture!?” Ishimaru actually needed a moment to work out what Jin meant… “But… that was just something she did when she was angry! And… even if _she’s_ not open to talking, the _other_ students might be! Especially once you show them evidence that there’s no experimentation going on!”

“But there’s no way for me _to_ do that…” Jin pointed out…

“But… couldn’t you just let them check through the school’s finances!?” The boy had no idea how bad of an idea that would have been, even if Hope’s Peak _was_ innocent… “I mean, so long as there’s not too many things like the Hope Cultivation Project in there…”

Jin’s blood ran cold as Ishimaru causally blurted out the name of the _top-secret project_ that all the staff in the school were currently working to _cover up!_ The _very same_ project that he was asking Jin to prove _didn’t exist!_ How the _hell_ had he found out about it!? And why hadn’t he immediately gone outside to join in with the riots as soon as he _had!?_

“…I mean; _I_ know that’s just Bandai’s work in Africa!” That was why… He had it mixed up with the Hope _Geoengineering_ Project! “But it being funded via subsidiaries and partner companies looks suspicious to most people...”

“How do you know about that?” Jin asked the _other_ question on his mind.

“ _Hinai_ asked me about it!” The Ultimate Columnist? So that must have been _last_ year… “She’d seen the name when going through the school’s finances, but said she couldn’t find any… official… information…”

Jin struggled to keep his face neutral as Ishimaru started trailing off. Had he realised there might be a _reason_ the school never released information about project, and had shut down access to those finances recently? A reason like ‘unsanctioned human experimentation’…

 _“AARGHH!_ How could I _forget_ that!?” Ishimaru lurched forward violently and smacked his forehead hard. “I was supposed to talk to her! And I’ve kept that detective waiting for almost a whole _week…!_ ”

Whatever he’d remembered, it didn’t seem related to Kamakura… “Ishimaru, what are you talking about…?”

“Ah… the bombing! At the airport! It was done by _black-and-white bears!”_ Ishimaru explained, pulling at his own hair. “And… I remembered too late that _Hinai_ had seen some black-and-white bears under the school, so I was _supposed_ to ask her exactly what they look like and let the detective know if they were the same or not but I _haven’t_ and now I’ve probably put the whole investigation back by a _week_ because I’ve been sat around doing _nothing_ and…”

“Ishimaru… Ishimaru, _calm down!”_ Jin grabbed the boy by his arm. “You’ve not put the investigation back at all… talking to Hinai won’t have helped, anyway…”

“Wh-what do you mean…?” Ishimaru stammered weakly.

“…I’m surprised you hadn’t heard already, there’s been enough rumours about it…” Jin muttered, “Hinai’s family contacted the school over the holidays. She’s taking a leave of absence, because she’s been diagnosed with a mental condition… one that causes _hallucinations…”_

“Ah… But… even then, we don’t know for _sure_ she didn’t see anything… Or that the bears at the airport weren’t based on what she _said_ she saw…” Ishimaru argued. “It might still be connected!”

“That’s true… I’ll try to contact her family about it.” Jin told him. And speaking of _connections,_ there was the fact that she’d found evidence of _that_ project, right before being diagnosed with this illness… That seemed a little _too_ coincidental to Jin… Could the Steering Committee have had something to do with it...?

And now Ishimaru had just announced that he _also_ had that same information, even if he hadn’t understood the importance of it, yet. The committee would want _something_ done about that, if they caught wind of this, which they likely _would_ if Jin just left Ishimaru to his own devices and let him keep trying to deal with the protests outside… But on the other hand, he could hardly tell Ishimaru _not_ to mention _that project_ again, or even _he_ would get suspicious! And all of _that_ was assuming he _wouldn’t_ figure out his mistake and try to confront Jin about it, or announce it to the whole main course _and_ the reserve students…

The easiest thing would be to get Ishimaru out of the school, preferably somewhere without an internet connection, until they’d dealt with the protests… He wouldn’t be likely to think about the school’s finances again _then…_ But there was no way in _hell_ Ishimaru would leave willingly, not unless it was an official school trip, or possibly for someone _else’s_ sake…

“…But speaking of mental conditions… How’s Oowada doing?” Jin asked him, casually. “I was told he’s having panic attacks and insisting on being able to see you at all times...?”

“Ah... _yes._ That’s my fault as well. I let him see that picture Hirayama sent…” The one with Ishimaru surrounded by blood? That would certainly explain why Oowada’s paranoia over protecting him had become even worse than before… “And I think actually _seeing_ the dead council members has made him scared of being attacked, without having me there to back him up…”

What? He hadn’t figured out that Oowada was more concerned about _his_ safety that his _own_ safety? Still, that would be useful to Jin’s plan.

“Hmm… maybe some time away from the school would help him…” Jin suggested, “He’d feel safer with his gang, I’m sure…”

“Ah… I suppose he would…” Ishimaru frowned, “All those friends would be able to protect him more than _I_ could, couldn’t they…?”

“Yes… but you’d still have to go _with_ him…” Jin argued, _“They_ wouldn’t know how to deal with his panic attacks!”

“Ah… _Oh…_ Yes, I suppose I would…” Ishimaru paused for a moment, considering the idea wistfully, then pulled at his hair again. “But… _classes_ are starting again next week! And I’m supposed to be helping with the new council… and I still need to ring that detective about the airport bombing… and if there’s anything I can do to help with the reserve students…”

“Ishimaru…” Jin placed a hand heavily on his shoulder again. “The classes aren’t going to cover anything important for a few weeks… there’s too many people still grieving the council, which is _also_ why there won’t be anything for you to help _with…_ I’ve told Togami he’s going to have to wait another month before I let him make a new one, and I intend to stick to that! As for the detective, if it turns out that the school _is_ involved, it’ll make more sense for _me_ to be the one contacting him, not _you…_ And there really _isn’t_ any way you can help with the reserve students… not when they’re in _that_ mood with you…”

Ishimaru sighed as Jin effectively accused him of causing that last problem. “I suppose you’re right… There wouldn’t be any reason I couldn’t leave with Mondo…” Jin could scarcely believe that it had been so easy to convince Ishimaru… _“_ If he gets any worse than he is now! But hopefully now I understand what his trigger is, he shouldn’t have any more attacks!”

 _Damnit!_ That meant Ishimaru would only leave if Oowada _pushed_ it, which he probably _wouldn’t,_ because he wouldn’t want to cause _Ishimaru_ any hassle, _or_ if he became even more paranoid…

“Ah, but… here he comes now!” Ishimaru announced cheerfully. “Err… was there anything else you needed to talk to me about?”

“No… That was all the important things…” Jin told him.

“Thank you, sir!” Ishimaru nodded briefly, and stood up to greet Oowada as he walked over. “How was it? Do you want to talk about any of it?”

“Uhh… maybe later…” Oowada muttered, glancing across at Jin as if he wanted to talk about something without Ishimaru around. “You go do _your_ thing.”

“Are you sure?” Ishimaru looked too worried about the biker to just leave. “To be honest I’m not sure I’d even know _what_ to discuss…”

“Your guilt over having ‘sat around doing nothing’ might be a good starting point.” Jin suggested, “Or just tell him everything that’s happened to you since your birthday… that would probably take up a good hour all by itself…”

“Err… I suppose…?” Ishimaru looked understandably put out as Oowada nodded along and gently started encouraging him towards the office. “But feel free to come get me if you need anything!”

“Yeah… sure…” Oowada muttered, giving him one last push and watching as Ishimaru entered and sat down…

Was he just going to stand and look at Ishimaru the whole appointment…? “…You looked like you had something you wanted to talk about?”

“Uhh… Oh, right!” Oowada quickly turned to face him, and the sat down on a seat opposite him. “Yeah… there… there was something… It’s to do with Taka…”

“Yes…?” Jin prompted him.

“Well… I was just talking in there and, uhh…” Oowada looked back at the room Ishimaru was in, anxiously. “Do… do I actually _need_ to worry ‘bout guarding Taka or… or am I just… y’know… getting worried ‘bout nothing?”

Jin looked at the boy, sweating slightly as he kept glancing away from Jin to check on his boyfriend less than ten yards away, tapping his feet and pulling at his coat sleeves as he tried to work out what Jin’s expression meant.

He could probably lift a world’s worth of weight from the boy, with just one sentence, if he was a _good_ headmaster.

But he wasn’t, was he? _Good_ headmasters wouldn’t sit back and let a young man be pressured into undergoing intensive rounds of experimental brain surgery and bio-genetic modification.

So instead, Jin leaned forward with a look designed to burden the kid even more…

“Honestly…” Oowada shifted so far forward that he was practically off the seat, as Jin lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I don’t think Ishimaru would be safe unless he leaves the school, even _with_ you guarding him…”

Technically, it _was_ honest. Ishimaru really _was_ in danger here… just not from the person _Oowada_ was thinking of…

But that didn’t make him feel any better when Oowada’s body shook so hard that he keeled forward and fell to the floor with a thump, or when Ishimaru ran out of his much-needed therapy session to come and help him though the panic attack, or when he faked a confused shrug in response to questioning look Ishimaru gave him, or when he met the two boys in his office the next day to discuss the details of their ‘compassionate leave’ from the school…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the next chapter, where Taka finally gets to meet Mondo's gang!


	3. Compassionate Leave pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately this chapter ends at a kind of cliff-hanger. It was originally going to carry on until the point where Kiyotaka and Mondo head back to Hope's Peak, but I started to realise that the chapter would probably end up being in the region of 60,000 words at this rate if I did that, so I decided to just split it at a point which I think is about halfway through.  
> The campsite they're in was based on Japanese campsites as seen here https://ridgelineimages.com/musings/what-to-expect-when-camping-in-japan/

(Sunday September 23rd 2012)

“…The pair of you, along with Oowada’s motorbike and any supplies you need for camping, will be transported by helicopter to a discreet forest campsite, outside of the range of any mobile or wireless networks. The pair of you will be required to stay within the area marked on this map at all times, but it should be large enough to provide entertainment for Oowada’s gang while you’re there.” Jin explained to the two anxious boys sat in front of him as he pushed a map towards them. “A landline phone will be available on-site, but _only_ so you can contact the school in emergencies, or to arrange the trip back here…”

“Err… so, we can’t make any phone calls while we’re there?” Ishimaru suddenly cut in, to Jin’s surprise. He hardly used the phones at the school anyway…

“No… There’s a possibility your mobiles can be traced, and someone would notice the increased use of the landline out there.” … _And also the possibility that Ishimaru would mention the Hope Cultivation Project to someone._ “With that killer still not caught, the steering committee is insisting that student safety is our number one priority.”

That wasn’t entirely true. The steering committee’s main priority was making sure neither of the boys spoke to anyone about the murdered student council, and _that_ was what Jin had told them his reason for denying them phone calls had been, while they went out on their ‘mental health break’. Though they had also agreed that the boys would be safer if no one from outside the school found out about it.

“O-of course…” Ishimaru gave a stiff nod. “In that case… would it be alright to write my father a letter explaining where I’m going? Or at least that I won’t be in the school? I won’t get a chance to call him before we leave…”

“A letter would also be too risky…” Jin told him, trying not to think bitterly about whether _Kyoko_ would have cared this much about him if he’d started acting the way Ishimaru’s father had been recently. “And besides… Are you really sure it’s a good idea to let him know about this? It’ll hardly convince him you’re taking your studies seriously if he finds out you’re leaving the school to go camping…”

“B-but that’s only because…! Err… Well… I couldn’t _tell_ him that, but…” Ishimaru started to argue, then hesitated. “If I just stop calling him without any explanation, he’ll _worry!”_

Even Oowada, too busy looking around for ‘threats’ to really pay attention to the conversation, looked sceptical about that.

“Ishimaru… Your face, along with the news that you almost were on a plane that was _bombed,_ has been on the front page of every newspaper, and on every news programme, for a _week.”_ Jin pointed out to him, “And that hasn’t made him _‘worry’_ enough to so much as _try_ calling the school to ask how you are! Or even _writing_ to us!”

“But… You can _see_ in the news that I was alright!” Ishimaru cried, completely ignoring the possibility of mental traumas that _should_ have occurred to his father… “There wouldn’t have been any reason to go out of his way because of it…”

Jin couldn’t think of a _better_ reason to go out of his way to make sure his child was alright, but Oowada started speaking before he got the chance to say that… “But… you didn’t call him on Friday, like you usually would. Shouldn’t _that_ have made him worry?”

“But he told me _not_ to… call…” Ishimaru trailed off as he noticed the contradiction in his arguments. “…You don’t think he really _meant_ that, do you…?”

Oowada looked like he didn’t know what to say, and Jin didn’t know the man well enough to answer Ishimaru’s question… but he did know how to convince the boy to agree not to contact the man until this situation had passed…

“Ishimaru… Right now, all calling him each week is doing is showing him that, no matter how hurtful or petty or _cruel_ he is to you, you’ll put up with it and _keep_ trying to be there for him!” Jin told him firmly, “Give him a few weeks of silence… Some time to worry that maybe _he’s_ the one who’ll need to change, if he wants to speak to you again! I think you’ll find he’s a lot more amenable after that…”

“You think so…?” Ishimaru asked hopefully, and Oowada nodded along at him. “Alright then… But… If he _does_ call, can you please let him know I’m safe?”

“Of course…” Jin agreed, “Now… back to where I was…”

* * *

“…Mondo and I will be leaving the school tomorrow morning, on… a _trip_ for… a while.” Taka told the members of the class he’d been able to round up for a ‘class announcement’ at short notice, which had been everyone but Junko and Mukuro. “And, err, for safety reasons, we won’t be contactable until we come back.”

Mondo didn’t pay much attention to the confused responses from everyone… He was too busy checking around the room… Their homeroom classroom had _way_ too many windows that lead _right_ outside where anyone could just climb in, but he couldn’t forget to focus on the door to the classroom either…

Honestly, if he’d had his way he woulda just left with Taka and let Kirigiri tell everyone where they’d gone _after_ they were safely outta here. But Taka had wanted to say goodbye to them all, and Mondo couldn’t explain why that was a terrible idea…

“What do you _mean_ you’re _leaving!?”_ His heart almost stopped when someone was suddenly stood up and yelling at Taka, but then he realised it was just Togami being a dick. “You can’t just… _leave!_ What about the _council!?”_

“We can’t start that for a month. The headmaster won’t budge on that…”

“Ngh… But… there’s still things you could do to prepare! And what about the Re…”

“Togami, do you _really_ think Kiyotaka wouldn’t have considered all of this?” Kyoko suddenly spoke up… Fuck, she’d been so quiet he’d not even _noticed_ her there… He needed to be paying attention to where everyone was sat, too…

“…I’m sorry I couldn’t help, Togami…” Taka looked way more upset about that than he should have. “But… I think Princess Nevermind might be working on it as well. Perhaps you could talk to her…?”

“…I can’t imagine _she’ll_ be of any use, when _you_ weren’t! But I suppose I can’t expect you to perform miracles…” Togami scowled. “But I hope you _do_ realise I’ll be expecting you to work twice as hard when you return!”

“That’s what I intend to do, regardless!” Taka glared back at him. Man he looked so awes… _What was that at the window…!?_ Oh… just a bird… okay… keep cool, Mondo… Don’t need to have _another_ fucking panic attack this weekend…

“But… why _are_ you going?” Hina asked, like it wouldn’t have been fucking _obvious_ if she just _thought_ about it! “I thought the school usually only allow trips if they’re talent related?”

“Oh… _that!”_ Take stiffened as he prepared to tell the lie the headmaster had fed them both. “Well… during our counselling sessions, the school determined that we’re, err… dealing with this in a particularly bad way, so they recommended we both leave the school for a while, until we’re both less… _upset!”_

Mondo could practically _feel_ everyone’s eyes stare at him, and it was all he could do not to shout at ‘em for it. Fucking _idiots,_ acting like it was just _him_ who was the problem and he was just… getting paranoid and worrying and _panicking_ over _nothing!_ Like he was some damn _coward!_

But he _didn’t…_ he needed to let ‘em all think that crap for a while, just so Taka didn’t catch wind of the fact that the whole council had died ‘cause some fucker was after _him_ and screwed up their timing.

He was sure as _hell_ gonna tell ‘em what a bunch of fucking _dumbasses_ they all were _after_ this was all over, though!

“Err… but anyway! We’re not allowed to take our phones or computers with us!” Taka changed the subject by getting out the tablet with Chiaki on it and taking it over to Chihiro… damn, it woulda been cool to show her to the gang and play some games… “So I was wondering if you’d be able to look after… _this_ for me?”

“Sure thing, Taka.” Chi took it from him, “It’ll be a good time to install a few upgrades! Maybe switch out the processors for some better ones…”

“What? You don’t have to…”

“Just make sure you and Mondo look after yourselves, alright!?” Chi carried on, ignoring Taka’s protests, and the rest of class joined in and agreed with him.

“Ah… Of course we will! That’s the whole point of the trip!” Taka pointed out. “Please make sure you all look after yourselves as well!”

They all laughed and told him they would, which seemed like a good time for Mondo to wrap this up and get Taka back to his room where it was safer…

“Well, we’ll see you all again soon!” Mondo quickly said his goodbye as he gently pushed Taka’s shoulders towards the door. “We gotta go pack up and figure out what stuff we’ve gotta take with us!”

“Oh! Already!?” Taka sounded disappointed, and Mondo couldn’t help but get annoyed when it looked like he only agreed to make _Mondo_ feel better… “Err… Well, goodbye, everyone! Take care!”

Mondo paused at the door to check up and down the corridor for threats, while Taka waved at everyone, then they both headed out and back towards the dorms…

But they were barely a few yards from the classroom before Mondo started hearing footsteps running up behind them…

“Ah, Kyoko!” Mondo breathed a sigh of relief as Taka had already turned and seen who it was. “Was there something I forgot to tell everyone?”

“No. I just have a few questions that would be best asked in private.” She told him, as she caught up and matched pace with the pair of them. “May I come back to your room for a few minutes?”

“Yeah, sure.” At least _she_ seemed to have the sense not to expect Taka to hang around _outside_ all day, and knowing she wanted to talk about something was even making Taka pick up his pace a little…

“Thank you.” She nodded and carried on with them in silence, until they were all locked inside Mondo’s room.

“So, what can we help you with?” Taka asked her, while Mondo did a quick check around the room, just to make sure no one had managed to sneak in while they were out.

“I’m wondering… did you speak to my father at all, before this ‘trip’ was suggested?” He heard Kyoko asking as he checked inside the bathroom as well… Good, no one in here either. They were safe…

“Err… Well, _yes!_ He came to catch up with me about… that _thing_ I tried to help with!” Taka told her, glancing at Mondo as he came back over to join them.

“Hmm… And did you talk to him about anything… unusual, then? Or important?” She asked him.

“Err… Well, I spoke to him about… the _email_ Togami showed you, and what the school are trying to do about it _._ ” Taka started mulling it over. “Then I remembered something about the airport bombing that I’d left hanging, so he said he’d look into that. And then he asked me how Mondo was… That was it, really…”

“Hmm… That’s what he told me you’d spoken about…” Kyoko murmured.

So he’d told her about that? Did that mean he’d also told her that Taka wasn’t safe here?

…Nah, probably not. He’d said it was between him and Mondo, right? He wouldn’t have wanted to get his own _daughter_ involved! Especially when he could just trust Mondo and the gang to look after Taka… assuming he still _did_ trust Mondo with that, after he’d had those extra few attacks since finding out for _sure_ Taka was in danger here…

“Wait… He already _told_ you about all of that?” Taka checked with her. “Then why did you ask _me_ about it?”

“I just wanted to be sure he hadn’t hidden anything from me.” She shrugged, “It might have been a useful lead if he had…”

“But… if it’d help find out who… did _that_ to the council, then why _would_ he hide it!?” Taka cried, “You… surely you don’t think _he_ had anything to do with it, do you? He’s your _father!”_

“…That doesn’t mean I can rule him out as a suspect. Not completely. I have to at least be _open_ to the idea that anyone could be behind this, until I find concrete evidence that they _weren’t…_ That’s what being a detective _means.”_ Kyoko insisted. “And I must admit, the school suddenly encouraging you and Mondo to _leave,_ but only on the basis that you not communicate or access the internet at all, seems… suspicious. Especially when it’s _only_ the pair of you who’ve had an offer like this.”

 _Really!?_ She could figure out all sorts of _other_ crap, but she couldn’t see the obvious link between the two attacks and _Taka!?_ Hell, it was lucky Taka hadn’t worked it out himself!

“…Actually… I thought that myself! Although I’ve been hoping maybe I was just… worrying too much about it.” Oh _shit!_ Maybe Taka _had_ worked it out…? “But… that airplane… _and_ the council meeting… they were both things _I_ was supposed to be…”

“What? No. You’re definitely worrying too much.” Kyoko cut him off bluntly, just as tears started pricking his eyes. “If _you_ were a target, then it would have been far easier for them to wait a week for you to be in the council meeting as well, rather than going ahead and putting the school on high alert.”

“…You think so?” Taka asked her, hopefully.

“Yes. I’m certain of it.” She told him.

She sure did _look_ certain… Guess that meant her old man _hadn’t_ let her in on the news he’d trusted Mondo with. But at least that meant she’d managed to stop Taka from beating himself up about it, even if she’d done it by accidentally lying to him.

“Ah… Thank you! I… honestly, I don’t know if I could have _coped_ with it, if it _had_ turned out to be my fault…” Aww, _hell…_ Mondo _really_ hoped he’d never find out! He’d be fucking _crushed_ if he did!

Wait, what was that look Kyoko was giving him? Why was she staring like Mondo was doing something weird…?

“Well… even if you _were_ a target, it still wouldn’t be _your fault.”_ Whatever the reason, she quit staring as soon as Mondo caught her. “It would be the _killer’s.”_

“Err… well, _yes!_ Of course! But… I mean... Even _knowing_ that, I’d always be wishing I’d stayed inside, instead of going places with lots of people who got caught up in the attacks _with_ me… That kind of thing!” Taka explained, “I’m just… glad I don’t have to worry about things like that… it’ll make this a lot easier for me. So thanks!”

“Of course.” Kyoko nodded, “And thank _you_ for answering my questions… And please let me know if you remember anything else of importance that you might have told my father.”

“Err… yes! I will do!” Taka agreed, a little startled as Kyoko started to head back towards the door. “Take care!”

“And you two.” Kyoko nodded. “I hope I’ll see you both again sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah… You to, Kyoko!” Mondo agreed with her as she opened the door, glanced both ways up the corridor and then left. After all, that’d mean they’d caught the killer and the school would be safe faster…

 _“Haaa…_ I’m going to miss everyone…” Taka sighed as the door shut and locked behind her, although Mondo went up and double-checked it to be sure. _“But,_ I suppose _now_ I’ll get to meet your gang, after all!”

“Ha… _yeah!_ You’re gonna _love_ those guys!” Mondo patted his back. “Now… we gotta start figuring out what we’re gonna bring with us…

* * *

(Monday September 24th 2012)

Kiyotaka instinctively flinched and clutched at Mondo’s side as the helicopter they’d been put into lurched upwards… but it turned out that, much like the airplanes he’d now been on, once the vehicle was actually _in_ the air, the ride was actually much smoother, even though they were still moving upwards as they prepared to go high enough to clear the school walls, and the group of students right outside of them.

And as their journey started, he looked out of the window and noticed that they _were_ all still right outside the gates, although it didn’t look like they were being as active as before. When he’d last seen them, they’d all be shouting and waving their hands… now about half of them were in sleeping bags, and the rest were just stood at the gates, staring at the school. Though he noticed that most of those turned their gazes upwards to look at the helicopter as it flew overhead.

Even from this distance, he could practically _see_ the looks of anger and resentment on their faces at what must have been the sheer amount of _their_ money being spent on _him…_

“Hey… what’s up?” It seemed like Mondo had noticed the guilt he was feeling, as he put an arm over Kiyotaka’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Just… looking at the ‘parade’…” Kiyotaka sighed. He shouldn’t really call it that, even if it _was_ much easier to think of it as a parade and not a _protest_ he’d failed to help. The school shouldn’t have been being _allowed_ to save face over this! Not when it had almost been going on for an entire _week!_ He _really_ hoped the headmaster wasn’t going to use Hirayama’s outburst as an excuse not to take their protest seriously… she was just one person out of two-thousand, after all…

“Hey… don’t worry about it.” Mondo tried to assure him. “There’ll be plenty of _other_ parades we can go to!”

… _What!?_ Did Mondo think the ‘parade’ was… _actually_ a parade!? Hadn’t anyone told him what was going on? Ah… no, of course they wouldn’t have! Mondo had been with _him_ all the time over the last fews days, and after Mondo’s reaction to that picture, he certainly hadn’t wanted to mention anything to do with the reserve course students! No wonder he’d looked so confused when Chihiro and Makoto had talked about it before!

Still, perhaps that was for the best. Mondo had been worried enough about the student council’s killer potentially still being in the school… telling him that there two _thousand_ angry students who’d tried to force their way in surrounding the place twenty-four/seven would _not_ have helped!

So, Kiyotaka turned away from the window and took the opportunity to lean into Mondo’s side, as he seemed to properly relax for the first time in a week… It really did seem like the headmaster was right about him needing to leave the school for a while. They’d barely left the grounds and he was already looking _so_ much better for it! “You’re right… And I’ll probably see _enough_ people when your gang meets us at the campsite!”

“Ha! Yeah! Turns out Kirigiri picked a place _right_ near our old stomping grounds, so a _ton_ of ‘em are gonna be able to come camp with us the whole time!” Mondo smiled widely… although presumably he meant ‘the whole time they _weren’t at school’…_ “It’s gonna be great… Be like that spring break we never ended up doing…”

“Yes…” Kiyotaka nodded. He’d thought of that the moment the headmaster had pointed out he’d need to come along on this trip… The trip they’d planned where Mondo would introduce him to a whole gang of friends, and help him make a good first impression… But, thinking of which… “Do you have any advice for me, about getting on with them, I mean?”

“Eh? Nah… you’ll be fine! Just… be like you always are!” Mondo tightened his grip assuringly, although Kiyotaka couldn’t help but wonder if it would really be that easy… “I mean… They ain’t gonna see eye-to-eye with you on _everything,_ at first. But _I’ll_ have your back, and they’ll respect that!”

Now _that_ seemed more realistic. It wasn’t exactly _ideal…_ but perhaps Mondo could help mediate things between him and the rest of his gang, until they came to a compromise, or they realised Kiyotaka didn’t meant them any harm. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem…” Mondo pulled Kiyotaka a little closer to him, mumbling something Kiyotaka couldn’t quite make out, aside from two words at the end. “…protect you.”

Mondo was still worried they’d need to protect each other, even though they weren’t in the school? Well… of course, one helicopter ride wasn’t _immediately_ going to solve _all_ of Mondo’s paranoia. He’d have to make sure he continued to assure Mondo that he was safe in his own way as well… “And I’ll protect _you_ as well!” He declared, lifting his shinai off of his lap a little to prove the point.

“…Yeah. Thanks, Taka.” Mondo nodded after a short while, and then relaxed as they sat in silence and watched the sky and ground moved quickly around them…

* * *

_‘Yo, heads up, we’re almost there. Just a couple of minutes away.”_

Huh… the message was from Mondo, but… Takemichi sure couldn’t hear his bike anywhere close by! And his bike was loud enough he shoulda been able to, even over the top of the impatient mutterings going on from the rest of the gang.

He’d told them the deal… at least, what Mondo had told _him_ the deal was. It sounded like total bullshit to him, to be honest. Mondo had said that Hope’s Peak had realised someone was trying to off Ishimaru, so they wanted Mondo and his gang to protect him by bringing him out into the middle of this old forest they sometimes used as a getaway point and keeping him there in secret…

That sounded dumb enough of it’s own… Why would the school trust _them,_ instead of their own guards and shit? But the weirder thing was that _Ishimaru_ hadn’t been told about his own life being in danger. According to Mondo, _he_ thought he and Mondo were coming out here ‘cause Mondo had got sick and needed fresh air for a while, and Ishimaru had come along with to make sure he didn’t collapse and die out here on his own, or something.

 _That_ part had confused everyone… everyone knew Mondo never got sick, so why would Ishimaru believe he _had,_ especially with something so dumb it could be cured by just going _outside?_ Like Mondo probably didn’t sneak outside the school to ride his bike every night anyway…

And sure… _he_ could believe Ishimaru buying it. From what Mondo had told him, the guy sounded like a sucker who’d believe anything. But the rest of the gang hadn’t heard much about the guy… and he was pretty sure a lot of the muttering going on was about _Takemichi_ having lost it, or playing some kinda prank on ‘em all…

Well, this better _not_ be a damn prank! Bad enough he’d spent the whole day wondering what the hell was gonna happen when he met Mondo’s _boyfriend_ several months earlier than he’d been expecting to, but if it turned out it was just Mondo _fucking_ with him…!

…Nah. Mondo wouldn’t do _that…_ It wasn’t as if the big dumbass had even _meant_ to make him feel like shit all last year. He’d just been clueless about it… but he wasn’t clueless enough to think a prank like this’d be funny… Or that Takemichi would _wanna_ meet the guy who’d taken away his chance to be with Mondo. It must be _serious_ for Mondo to be doing this, and he’d sure _sounded_ serious over the phone yesterday. So where the hell _was_ he!?

“Hey, look! A helicopter!”

“…So?”

“I mean… how often you’d see one of _them_ out here...? Specially flying so low…”

Takemichi ignored the gang as they started talking about something up in the sky. He was starting to wonder if he’d somehow brought them all to the wrong place… How the fuck was he gonna explain that to them, without looking like a dumbass _himself…?_

“Are helicopters usually that tall?”

“Nah… It’s got summat tied underneath it…”

“…It’s a _bike!_ It must be the _boss!”_

_Huh!?_

Takemichi snapped his head up to where they were all staring… sure enough, the thing coming steadily closer to them had a bike tied under it, same model as Mondo’s! “…Fucker never told me to expect a _helicopter…!”_

“That’s the boss! Sure knows how to make and entrance!” He heard _someone_ laugh, before it got close enough that the sound from the blades drowned out all other noise, and soon after he had to brace himself to make sure he didn’t get blown over by the ‘copter as it came down and hovered just high enough not to smash Mondo’s bike into the ground. And then the door opened and out came…

…Some guy he’d never seen before, who barely glanced at them all before moving under the ‘copter and starting to take the bike off of it…

But then, after _him,_ Mondo came to the door and waved as they all cheered and beckoned for him to get off and come see them all, before relenting, jumping down the few feet between him and the floor, and moving to check on his bike and bring it over to the rest of them while the plane finished landing properly and went quiet…

“Hey! Guys! Great to see you all!” Mondo grinned as he pushed the bike over, leaving it to stand a few feet from them all as he rushed to start fist-bumping and shaking hands with everyone. “Did Michi tell you all why I’m here…?”

“Why _wouldn’t_ I!?” Especially with that whole bit where they had to keep the real reason secret from Ishimaru… “I told ‘em the whole thing.”

“’Course ya did!” Mondo laughed and ruffled his hair up. “I was just thinking ya might’ve decided to keep quiet and give everyone a surprise!”

“Ha! Hard enough to convince them all to start camping on a school night…” Except for the ones who were skipping school anyway… “Like they’d have come at all if I didn’t…”

“Mondo, what were you _thinking!?_ Jumping out like that…!” Takemichi’s voice was cut off by a loud, nagging voice… “They told us to wait _inside_ the helicopter!”

Coming towards them, struggling to pull along a pair of suitcases even though both of them had _wheels_ on them, was… _him._ The guy Takemichi had seen in photos, and wished he _hadn’t._ The one who could make Mondo crack up with laughter, tell him shit he’d never told Takemichi in the whole five years they’d known each other, and fall in _love…_

“I wasn’t gonna wait _inside_ when all these guys have come out ta see me!” But who was, right _now,_ making Mondo roll his eyes at him, even as he grabbed the bigger of the two cases away from him easily… “’Sides, that _other_ guy did it!”

“The _helicopter co-pilot_ is _trained_ to do that!” Ishimaru snapped back at him, “You’re _not!_ What if you’d landed funny and twisted your ankle before we even put up the _tent!?”_

“Taka, I’m _fine!_ Seriously… You ain’t gotta keep worrying ‘bout me…” Mondo sighed at him, ruffling his hair. “Now lemme check I didn’t leave anything in the helicopter, and then I can introduce ya to the guys…”

“Ah! Alright…” Ishimaru jumped, like he’d forgot they were all there and had now had all the introduction they needed just from _watching_ him… “I’ll thank the pilots and make sure they don’t have anything to tell us before they leave…”

 _Urggh!_ The guy was just what Takemichi had imagined, back when Mondo had sent the picture of them together by accident. A nagging, goody-two-shoes, killjoy who didn’t trust anyone else to judge their own abilities unless they mindlessly followed the law and school rules and all that health and safety bullshit… And even when Mondo had insisted that the guy was just worried about other people, and wanted to keep them safe and make sure they had opportunities and he could still be fun to hang out with if you got past his attitude, he still didn’t _get it!_ What the hell did Mondo _like_ about the guy!? And how the _hell_ had he managed to get so close to Mondo in so little time? And why the hell was he wearing a _sword_ on his back…!?

Whatever the reasons, Mondo would probably be pissed off at anyone who decided to be a dick to his boyfriend, even if that wasn’t the word he used when he introduced him to the _rest_ of the gang! So he’d better at least _try_ and be polite when it was his time to shake hands with the guy…

“Ah! I know _you!_ You’re Yukimaru!” Huh… guess Mondo had cared enough about him to tell Ishimaru who he was. “Thank you for taking such good care of Mondo!”

“What…?” The hell did he _mean,_ ‘taking care of him’? He’d done more taking care of the gang itself than of Mondo!

“Err… You’re his bodyguard aren’t you?” Ishimaru had a weird idea of what a _bodyguard_ did… “And his best friend? So, I assumed you’d have been the one who’d take care of him, when he needed it…”

 _“Wha… ahahaha!”_ The idea of Mondo needing ‘taking care of’ like he was a little kid or something made him laugh. “What are ya talking about!? Mondo can take care of himself! I just make sure no one ever sucker-punches him, and organise the gang while he ain’t here!” Takemichi explained, although Ishimaru still looked confused. But that didn’t matter, ‘cause… “Speakin’ of which, I had the guys who’re staying overnight set their tents up in the usual place, so why don’t we ride on over there so you can get sorted and we can get some food going…”

“Great plan, Michi…”

“Wait… _ride!?_ We’re going on the bike already!?” Ishimaru looked shocked, and started opening the case he was carrying. “Ah, sorry! I didn’t realise. Let me get my protective gear on…!”

“Ehh… it’s only a mile away. And there’s no traffic.” Takemichi told him, “You don’t need that stuff…”

“What!? Just because it’s a short distance and there’s no traffic doesn’t mean we might not still have an accident and end up falling off the bike!” Ishimaru snapped, as he pulled out a set of full-body leathers and looked at them, realising he was going to have to take off his boots to get them on.

Urg… this was gonna take _forever,_ and the gang had already had to wait ages for them to turn up… _“How!?_ What _else_ do you think’s gonna make us crash _here?_ The _trees?”_

“Well… possibly! It’s easy enough to trip over roots when you’re _walking!”_ Ishimaru argued, “Or Mondo might just make a mistake…”

“The _hell_ he would!” Takemichi snapped, “There ain’t a member of this whole _gang_ who’d fuck up and get in an accident! Let alone the _guy in charge!”_

“…But.” Ishimaru’s face scrunched up, and it took him a _long_ time to reply to that. “…Didn’t… didn’t your _old_ lead…”

 _“There ain’t any point arguing ‘bout this!”_ Mondo suddenly cut him off, loudly. “I know Taka, and he ain’t gonna get on the bike without all that shit on, so it’ll be quicker if we just let him put it on without distracting him!”

“Oh! Right!” Ishimaru proved his point by suddenly remembering that he was supposed to be undoing his shoes, and had stopped when Takemichi had argued with him.

“Alright, fine…” Takemichi sighed, as they all stood and waiting for him to do it…

It was no surprise Mondo had wanted to cut _that_ argument short. Ishimaru had been about to bring up _Daiya’s_ accident, hadn’t he? ‘Your _old_ leader had an accident, so why couldn’t _you?’_ That kinda thing… right?

But… that’d been _different!_ That was a _race,_ not just going from one place to the other! Daiya had been _desperate_ to win, so he’d fucked up! That wasn’t gonna happen to any of _them!_ Unless one of them got desperate to win a race, but why _would_ they, right!? None of ‘em had any reason to get _that_ serious about it! They weren’t like _Daiya,_ who’d been putting his record of undefeated leader on the line…

…Even if that didn’t really seem like such a big deal to Takemichi. Especially as the guy had been planning to leave the gang anyway. Would it really have killed him to lose one race…?

Well… _yeah._ It _had_ killed him. He’d _died_ for that fucking record of his! _Why!?_ Why the hell did it _matter!?_ Everyone _else_ had lost races! Why couldn’t he have just let Mondo win _one fucking race!?_ Insteada getting himself _killed_ and never seeing any of them ever again! Hell, it woulda probably made handing the gang over even easier, and…!

“Thank you for waiting!”

Huh… Ishimaru had put all that stuff on already? Dammit… it had been over two years since Daiya died, why’d he still keep spacing out and thinking about it like that? He’d never know _why_ Daiya had cared so much… he just needed to help make sure no one _else_ ever got like that! So he should be paying attention to the _gang,_ not wishing Daiya was around to tell him what’d been going through his head that night…

“See? That wasn’t so bad!” Mondo slapped him on the back, as Ishimaru awkwardly started walking over to the bike in his pointless helmet and layer of leather. “You’ll get used to him… I swear!”

Man… Mondo looked so worried that he was gonna argue back. Dammit… he really _did_ care what Takemichi thought of the guy, didn’t he? ‘Cause he didn’t wanna cut _either_ of them outta his life.

“If ya say so… Now let’s go _eat_ already!”

“Haha! _Sure!_ And I’ll race ya there!” Mondo laughed, as he headed over to his bike…

…At least it was _something._ And it meant they were getting to spent time together _now,_ to make up for Mondo blowing him off all summer! So Takemichi was gonna quit thinking about shit he couldn’t change from two years ago, and make sure he enjoyed it…!

* * *

(Tuesday September 25th 2012)

Man, what a night! Mondo hadn’t cut loose like that in _ages,_ let alone stayed up past midnight on a weekday! He’d almost forgot how much fun hanging out with Michi and the rest of the guys could be… fun enough to help him keep partying all night long, even though he’d not slept since Friday and _had_ fucking twisted his ankle jumping out from that helicopter, just like Taka had been worrying about…

Not that he was gonna admit that in front of the gang. They’d probably only agreed to sticking around and helping keep Taka safe ‘cause they thought Mondo was a tough, action-guy who _could_ do that kinda thing without flinching. He couldn’t let ‘em know that wasn’t the case, not right _now._ Which was why he’d stayed up on his feet all night, long after Taka had admitted the music being played was too loud for him and had gone back to their tent for the night.

 _Their_ tent… They’d had to pretend the _school_ had insisted on _that,_ and it had still got a few weird looks from some of the guys. ‘Specially when Taka had insisted on setting the thing up by himself, pointing out that _he’d_ actually read the instructions for it. Even he’d thought Taka was being weird about that… couldn’t he have just _told_ him what he needed to do, instead of insisting he just go off and chat with Michi while he did it all alone…?

He really hoped Taka hadn’t just done it as an excuse to avoid being near Michi for long. Sure, they’d got off to a shit start, and Mondo shoulda told Taka not to mention Daiya’s death at all… but they weren’t gonna get along if they just ignored each other all the time, and Mondo had been really hoping they could _all_ hang out together sometimes…

He’d have to have a chat with Taka about it. _Tomorrow_ though. Right now, all he wanted to do was sneak inside the tent, take the weight off his damn foot, wrap his arms around Taka and safely _pass out._

“…Ngh… _Mondo?”_ So it was a damn shame when Taka woke up as soon as he took one step inside, and immediately reached for his pocket torch to check his watch… “What time is it…?”

“It’s still night, Taka… I was just out late…” Mondo told him, hoping he’d just go back to sleep again.

 _“...2 am!?”_ No such luck. Taka turned on the torch and woke right up at the sight. “This isn’t something you all do _every_ night, is it?”

“’Course not… It’s just ‘cause it’s was my first night back!” Mondo explained, taking off his shoes and throwing them towards Taka’s boots. “It’ll be quieter tomorrow, to…”

“Good.” Taka nodded, keeping the torch on while Mondo started to took for the opening of his sleeping bag. “How’s your ankle?”

“Whaddaya _mean,_ how’s my ankle!?” Mondo hissed at him… had he _noticed!?_ Then did that mean the whole _gang_ had noticed he’d fucked up that landing… why they hell had no one mentioned it, then…?

“Mondo, _please._ I noticed as soon as you stopped the bike and put your foot down that it’s hurting when you put weight on it.” Taka sighed at him, picking up a first-aid box from next to him and opening it up. “Why do you think I insisted on putting up the tent by myself?”

“I thought you were just trying to avoid Michi…” Mondo admitted, at he found the zip and undid the bag.

“Oh… Yes, I… _did_ realised I probably shouldn’t have mentioned your brother like that.” Taka cringed. “But… I just don’t understand how he could act like none of your gang have ever been in an accident…”

“He means like… normally _. Outside_ of high-stakes races.” Mondo explained, as he sat down on the bag. “Most of the gang think Daiya’s death was… a special case, so it doesn’t count.”

“I see…” Taka muttered, looking unconvinced for a moment, then held up the box. “May I check your ankle?”

“Sure…” Mondo sighed, lying down and lifting the foot up so it’d be easy for Taka to look all around it. As long as he didn’t expect Mondo to get up and walk on it again, it wouldn’t be a problem to let him prod it a bit to ease his mind and get him back to sleep again. “Probably just need to rest it, though.”

“Hmm…” Taka hummed as he rolled Mondo’s trousers up and gently ran his fingers over the ankle. “You’re probably right… it doesn’t feel swollen at all… but just to be sure, I’ll compress and elevate it for tonight, and if it’s still hurting tomorrow we can put an ice pack on it…”

“ _’Kaaaay_ …” Mondo yawned as Taka got out some bandages and started wrapping them firmly around the ankle, and barely managed to keep his eyes open as he watched Taka pull over the smaller of the cases and prop Mondo’s foot onto it…

“There… that’s everything I can do tonight…” Taka nodded at his own work. “Oh! Except for… _this.”_

Taka got a flustered look as he leant down close to the ankle, then quickly pressed his lips on it… _*smck*._

“ _Pfft…_ You dork…” Mondo couldn’t help but chuckle at how embarrassed the guy looked, doing it. “Ya didn’t have to do that…”

“I know… You can take care of yourself…” Taka sighed, as he zipped Mondo’s sleeping bag closed around him and got inside of his own, rolling it sideways so he could snuggle up to Mondo’s side and kiss his lips quickly. “But ideally, you shouldn’t _have_ to… And I’m not going to _make_ you when I’m right here to do it _for_ you!”

Damn, this guy… What the hell had Mondo done to deserve him? As long as they weren’t in the school, and had the gang around to help protect him, Mondo could rely on him to help with whatever he needed… He was so lucky to have him, and be able to admit when things were hurting him, and wrap his arms around his body as they cuddled up to sleep together…

* * *

Kiyotaka slowly noticed that there were people talking outside, which probably meant that the night was over, and he must have managed to fall asleep at some point...

 _“Nngghh…”_ Opening his eyes only confirmed it, as there was a thin amount of light peeking through the zip of the tent he and Mondo were in.

Thinking of Mondo, though, _he_ was as deep in sleep as he had fallen last night, straight after Kiyotaka had bandaged his ankle. If he hadn’t been aware that Mondo had hardly gotten any sleep the last few night, if he’d slept at _all,_ then he probably would have been jealous of Mondo’s ability to sleep without being bothered by the noise of the other boys moving around them overnight, _or_ the hard ground underneath them that the sleeping bag did little to mitigate…

But he _was_ aware Mondo had hardly slept, and was also worried about how his ankle was doing this morning, so he put thoughts like _that_ out of his mind and instead opened up his sleeping bag so he could sit up, stretch and then move down and take off the bandages he’d put on last night…

The area still didn’t seem swollen, hopefully that meant it would stop troubling Mondo today, but he wouldn’t be able to know for sure until Mondo woke up, and Kiyotaka didn’t want to do _that_ unless he had to!

But what to do if he didn’t? According to his watch, it was already 8:15, a full hour after he’d usually eat breakfast, and the smell of meat and cheese being cooked outside the tent was starting to make him hungry! But it might worry Mondo if he went out by himself to go get some...

 _“Uunngg…_ Taka…?” _Curses!_ He’d managed to both worry _and_ wake up Mondo, by moving away from him!

“Ah! I’m here!” Kiyotaka rushed to assure him, “I just wanted to check how your foot looked!”

“Oh, okay…” Mondo yawned, scowling at some noise from outside. “…Is it mornin’ already…?”

“Yes! It’s just gone quarter past eight!” Kiyotaka told him, “…It smells like they’re cooking breakfast out there…”

“…Yeah.” Mondo sniffed the air, “Smells pretty good, actually…”

Usually, good smelling food would be enough to motivate him to get up and go eat it, but Mondo just laid there thinking about it, instead. He must still be exhausted, even after the full night’s sleep! But he still needed to _eat_ … “Would you like me to go and get you some?”

“What!?” Mondo blinked with shock at him, “Nah… you ain’t gotta do that! We’ll go out together! Just gimme a sec...”

“Alright!” Kiyotaka nodded at him, taking the time Mondo needed to sit up and get his shoes on to put his blazer and boots back on and comb his hair. Hopefully the breakfast would wake Mondo up enough for him to show Kiyotaka how the gang usually washed themselves while they were out here. Presumably there was a river nearby, or something like that…?

* * *

Takemichi was pretty sure he was the first to notice when Mondo and Ishimaru finally came out of their tent for breakfast… and his first thought was that Mondo looked _awful!_ He was barely keeping his eyes open, and looked like he was swaying as he walked, even after Ishimaru put an arm behind his back, like he was trying to hold him upright, and he responded by slinging one over the guy’s shoulders…

Was there a chance he really _was_ sick? It’d seemed like he’d been struggling to keep partying with the rest of them, towards the end of last night… But if it’d just been the late night, then some sleep should have sorted that out, right?

…Assuming Ishimaru had _let_ him sleep…

 _Urgh!_ No… He was in the tent right next to theirs! He’d have _heard_ if they’d done anything like that! He didn’t need to be pissing himself off by imagining shit that definitely hadn’t happened!

But then, what the hell _had…?_ Even the rest of the gang looked like they’d noticed something was wrong with him… at least the ones who weren’t still stuffing themselves with the cheesy bacon and potatoes Hasimoto had made this morning…

“Uhh… morning, guys…” Mondo gave them all a half-hearted wave, once he finally realised they were looking at him.

“Yes! Good morning, everyone!” Ishimaru added loudly, like he was trying to make up for Mondo’s lack of energy. “Beautiful weather, isn’t it…!?”

…If that was his way of trying to distract everyone from how Mondo looked, it fell completely flat. If anything, all he did was get the attention of the guys who’d been too busy eating to notice before, so now _everyone_ around them was glancing between Mondo and _him,_ like they were hoping _he’d_ be the one to bring it up…

“Yeah... Can’t say the same for you guys though…” Mondo didn’t even react to the insult, and Ishimaru just looked confused by it. Guess he was gonna havta just come out and _ask…_ “No offense, boss, but you look like shit today. Did something happen, or…?”

“Ehh? I really look that bad?” Mondo laughed, “It’s nothing… I just had to pull a few all-nighters before coming here. Guess it’s finally caught up with me after that party last night.”

“You mean you had that much work to do already!?” Mitsukuni piped up. “You only been back there a month!”

He had a point… Wasn’t Hope’s Peak supposed to be pretty easy to coast through? Why was he already having to stay up all night to cope? He was too smart to have _that_ much trouble keeping up!

“It’s because of this trip! The headmaster insisted Mondo and I both be two weeks ahead of schedule in our school work before we left!” Ishimaru explained eagerly, which… Takemichi didn’t know him well enough to know if he was excited ‘cause he’d just come up with that on the spot, or if he was _always_ like that… “I’d already worked ahead beforehand, but Mondo had to rush to get it done in time…”

“Uhh… yeah. That’s why.” Mondo looked surprised by the answer… but he’d also looked like he’d been about to doze off before Ishimaru barked it out, so… “Anyway… any chance we can get some of that great smelling shit you’ve cooked up, Hasi…?”

“Sure thing, Boss!” Hasimoto started getting a couple of plates out of the pack for them.

Hmm… And now Mondo was trying to change the subject. This was still bothering him… “How come you didn’t say anything ‘bout it…? We coulda held off on partying…”

“Wha…!? Aww, come on! I ain’t _that_ bad!” Mondo laughed at the idea, “I wouldn’t have missed last night for the _world!_ And besides, I figured it’d make more sense to catch up on sleep once most of you are at school!”

He had a point there… Guess Mondo was really fine…

 _“Most_ of them? Don’t you mean _all_ of them? You’re all school-aged still, aren’t you?” Ishimaru asked, looking confused. “And it’s too late for schools to still be shut! Or did something happen to one of them?”

“Uhh… Nah… the schools are all fine…” Mondo admitted, looking like he was trying to shut down a bomb. “Just… not everyone in the gang goes in everyday…”

“Really? Huh… Is that some sort of…?”

“Here’s your food!” Hasimoto cut off Ishimaru’s question by shoving a plate of melted cheese in his and Mondo’s faces. Which was good, ‘cause it sounded like they all might’ve have to deal with his reaction to finding out they were just _skipping school_ if he hadn’t.

“Oh! Thank you!” Ishimaru took the plate in one hand, and held the other out as if expecting something else from the guy, while Mondo just took the plate and started blowing it to cool it. “Err… Do you not… have cutlery…?” Ishimaru asked, looking around at the guys who’d gone back to stuffing their faces nervously.

“Uhh… No. We all just… eat with our hands, y’know?” Hasimoto shrugged.

“Even something like _this?”_ Ishimaru gaped, “Doesn’t that get messy?”

 _Urg…_ seriously, how the hell did Mondo deal with this guy!? Refusing to eat with his hands at a damn _campsite!_ What did it _matter_ if they got a bit of grease on their clothes, or whatever…?

“Uhh… yeah, it might do…” And Mondo was just agreeing with him… “We packed those chopsticks, though…”

“Ah! Yes! Of course!” Ishimaru carefully put the plate down and then dashed back to the tent, while Mondo carefully picked up a mound of his food and bit into it carefully...

“Damn, this shit’s good!” Mondo muttered through his mouthful of food, before starting to chomp his way through the rest of it, paying no attention to the looks everyone was giving him about Ishimaru, not even when the guy came back with two pairs of chopsticks in his hand…

“Oh… Err… guess I only needed the one pair, then…!” Ishimaru put the one pair in his shirt pocket as he sat back down, then primly picked up the plate and used the other pair to dig out a piece of cheese-smothered potato and carefully put it in his mouth… “Ooh! This _is_ nice! What’s in it?”

“Whaddaya mean, ‘what’s in it’?” Hasimoto cocked his head at the guy, “Don’t tell me you’re vegetarian, or allergic or some dumb shit like that…”

“What? No, I don’t have any dietary requirements like that!” Ishimaru frowned at him, “I just thought it was nice, and wondered what was _making_ it taste nice…”

“It’s just fried bacon with potatoes and cheese baked on top, dude…” Hasimoto shrugged.

“…And onion.” Mondo muttered. Wait… was that right? He hadn’t noticed that under all the cheese…

“Oh… yeah. I threw a bit of onion in when I fried the bacon.” Hasimoto waved it off casually. “We had some that were gonna go off, figured I’d use ‘em.”

“Is that really all…?” Ishiamru asked, sceptically digging through the food as he slowly chewed the part in his mouth. “It tastes like there’s some other herbs in here…”

 _“H-herbs!?”_ Hasimoto laughed, “Why would I use _herbs!?_ Do I look some poncy chef to you!?”

“N-no… I just… thought it tasted like you’d used some herbs I’ve had before, maybe…” Ishimaru looked honestly confused, “Besides, you don’t have to be a chef to experiment with herbs and spices when you’re cooking, right Mondo?”

 _What!?_ Was he saying _Mondo_ cooked? With _herbs!?_ When they had that cafeteria that gave ‘em free food…!?

“Huh…? Oh, uhh… _yeah._ Like… sometimes I’ll add some curry powder to Turbo Cups or other food to spice ‘em up!” Oh… was that all he meant? Sheesh, Ishimaru made him sound like a nerd! “It’s an easy way to make eating the same old things less boring, y’know?”

“Huh… You can just add curry powder to _anything_ …? Never thought of that…” Hasimoto looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook himself outta it. “Uhh… But it’s not like I’d use _herbs!”_

“…Perhaps it’s just my imagination, then.” Ishimaru quit looking at Mondo and frowned at his food instead, before going back to slowly eating with his chopsticks, occasionally giving them an odd look… Man, what a picky asshole…

Still… he didn’t have time to be getting annoyed at the guy. If Mondo was gonna end up spending most of the day asleep, he might as well go to school, and he’d have to listen to the teachers bitching if he showed up _late…_

* * *

_…_ There were _clearly_ herbs in this! Did none of these people actually _look_ at their food when they ate it? You could _see_ the green bits!

…Then again, they were all eating so quickly, maybe they really _weren’t_ looking at the food they ate. Some of them had look surprised enough when Mondo pointed out the strings of onion… But then, why had that boy lied about the herbs? Was it really that odd for someone to try out some herbs in a recipe, that he felt he had to hide it from them all…?

“Well… if I’m bothering with school, I’mma have to get my ass going _now…”_ Yukimaru stood, looking resigned to the task.

“Oh, yeah…”, “ _Urg…_ ”, “Already…?” Several of the others groaned and stood up with him.

Now that was a depressing sight… He knew the daily grind of school wasn’t always fun, even at Hope’s Peak there were people who’d rather not bother with some, if not all, or the lessons, he knew that more than anyone!

…But these boys all looked _miserable_ about going… as if there wasn’t a single positive thing they could look forward to in the whole day. Were their schools really that bad? Or did they really just… hate the whole idea of it altogether?

It probably wasn’t the right time to start asking them… especially as he was starting to suspect the ones who _weren’t_ going to school were just playing truant, not on some kind of vocational course as he’d hoping a few minutes ago. Instead, he just joined in with wishing them all a good day as they left...

And even _that_ earnt him odd looks from them all! What was _that_ about!? He’d said the exact same thing as Mondo! Just… with a little more energy than him! Was it really that unusual to try and say goodbye to someone in a cheerful way?

He was starting to worry that he’d never get on with this lot… He knew Mondo had said that he wouldn’t exactly get along perfectly with everyone as soon as he met them, but he hadn’t been expecting _everything_ he did to put himself at odds with them! Even his attempt to compliment the chef had done nothing but insult him and start a discussion on whether something as simple as _using herbs_ was normal or not… And Mondo had _barely_ wanted to help him convince them about _that!_ Acting like all he ever did in the kitchen was add some curry powder to instant ramen...

...He was still looking tired though. Perhaps he’d just not wanted to have to go too far into it this morning. He looked like he was about ready to go back into the tent and sleep all day, now that most of the other members of the gang had left…

“Well… maybe that’s my cue to go rest up some more…” Mondo yawned and confirmed what Kiyotaka had been thinking. “You need anything before I go, Taka?”

“Err…” It took Kiyotaka a moment to remember that there _had_ been something he’d wanted to ask about. “Actually… It would be nice if I could wash up, quickly…?”

“Oh, yeah. Shoulda thought of that…” Mondo sighed, and Kiyotaka immediately felt a guilty to have asked Mondo to wait for him to get clean before going back to sleep when he was in _that_ state. “Any of you guys planning to wash up this morning!?” A couple of the gang put their hands up, “Great… Ya mind taking Taka along with you?”

Well… so much for him having made Mondo wait to go back to sleep! Did this mean he wasn’t going want Kiyotaka nearby while he slept? When had _that_ changed!?

“No problem, boss…” One of the boys who’d put his hand up replied, giving Kiyotaka a sideways smirk, as if he was finding something about the request funny.

Well, whatever the reason, he should probably just do his best to ignore the smirks and odd looks from the gang, for now. “Alright… I’ll just come get my wash kit, and then you can sleep!”

“’Kay…” Mondo yawned and started heading back there himself, looking like he was at risk of falling asleep and stumbling the entire way there, so it was no surprise to Kiyotaka that the first thing he did upon entering the tent was to drop straight onto his sleeping bag without so much as taking his _shoes_ off, or closing the front flap of the tent…

“Will you be alright sleeping by yourself?” Kiyotaka asked quietly, once he’d shut the flap himself and started taking Mondo’s shoes off and setting his ankle back up on the suitcase, just in case…

“Huh? Oh… Yeah. Don’t worry. The gang’s out there, so I know you’ll be safe…”

‘ _You’ll_ be safe?’ Odd… Wasn’t Mondo worried about himself, to? Or did Kiyotaka just mis-hear him? He _was_ mumbling and half-asleep already… “Maybe take your books and stuff, so ya got something to do afterwards…”

“Ah… Good idea! Thank you!” Kiyotaka gave him a quick kiss and zipped up his sleeping bag, as it didn’t look like he was going to do it himself before falling asleep, and it wasn’t exactly _warm_ out, even with the sun up. “Sleep well!”

Mondo let out a vaguely appreciative noise, though it looked like he’d already passed out, leaving Kiyotaka to quietly sort out the things he’d want for the day in silence…

A short while later he emerged from the tent, made a small pile out of the books, stationary and folding chair he’d decided to spend the day with, and then headed back over to the man who’d volunteered to show him their bathing spot…

“Sorry that took a while! I’m ready to go now, if you are?” Kiyotaka told him, while trying to remember his name. There’d been so many people introduced to him at once that he didn’t think he’d actually remembered any of them, but he’d have thought the fact that this one was the only member of the gang who was wearing a thick scarf this early in the year would have made him stand out in Kiyotaka’s mind, even if his medium stature, dark-brown slicked-back hair and black leather jacket and pants didn’t.

“Sure, alright…” He shrugged at the group he’d been sitting with, a couple of whom seemed to decide to follow them from a distance once they were on their way.

“Err… No offense, but I can’t remember your name…” Kiyotaka admitted, to break the silence.

“It’s Umeki.” Was the only response he got.

“Ah, thank you!” Kiyotaka would have to try and remember it, this time. “Err… it seems nice, out here…”

 _Urgh…_ He still wasn’t good at conversations. Not when he barely knew people, anyway…

“Heh… you think so, huh?” Umeki raised an eyebrow and smirked again. What on Earth was he finding so funny about this, anyway? He was starting to feel like the other boy was intending to prank him, somehow, but _what_ it would be, he had no idea…

“Yes…” Kiyotaka decided to just answer the question and hope for the best, but didn’t get any response, as Umeki seemed to have no desire to talk to him as they continued to walk.

Still, it would be nice if he could manage to have at least _one_ decent conversation with one of Mondo’s friends, without Mondo having to be there to help. And there was at least _one_ interesting thing about the boy he was walking with that he could bring up…

“That looks like a nice scarf you’re wearing!” He _tried_ to sound casual, with little success. “Err… where did you get it? It’s hard to find a good, _thick_ scarf…”

“Yeah… That’s why my girlfriend made it.” The other boy shrugged.

 _Ah!_ That was probably something he could get the boy to talk more about, right? “Well, it looks very well-made!” Not that he could see much of the scarf at the moment, but the parts around his neck were neat and had an interesting pattern to them… “How do you make that kind of… raised plait type of pattern?”

“W-why’d you think _I_ know that!?” Umeki snapped at him, “I just said my _girlfriend_ made it! You think I made her up or something!?”

“No…” Why on _Earth_ would he have thought _that?_ “I just assumed she would have spoken to you about how she made it! All the people _I_ know who make things like to explain _how_ they do it…” _Mondo_ certainly did, when he wasn’t too embarrassed about the end result! And even Chihiro would talk about his latest programs and the problems he’d had coding them, even to someone like Kiyotaka who had trouble wrapping his head around it all…

“Well… I’m a _guy!_ No one expects me to care about _knitting!_ Right!?” Umeki scoffed. “So she doesn’t talk to me ‘bout it. And I wouldn’t listen to her even if she _did!”_

“Well… that doesn’t seem very considerate of you! She must like knitting a _lot_ to have gone to the effort to make that just for you, and you refuse to even listen to her _talk_ about it!?” Kiyotaka pointed out harshly, feeling sorry for whichever poor girl was dating him… “How would _you_ like it if you tried to tell her about things that happened here with your friends, and she just ignored _you!?”_

“Why the hell would I think she’d wanna hear about what I get up to with the _gang!?_ She’s a _chick,_ she’s not gonna care about bikes an’ shit!”

“Even though _you_ do…?” Kiyotaka couldn’t imagine dating someone and not being in the least bit interested in what they got up to on a day-to-day basis… “Doesn’t she ever ask what you’ve been up to with your friends, or whether you had a nice day, or anything like that…?”

“Uhh… well, she… Uhh…” The boy panicked for a moment, looking a lot like Mondo used to when called on to answer questions he didn’t want to admit he didn’t know the answer to in class. And then, similarly to that, he turned angry and started yelling instead of giving an answer… “Why do you fucking _care,_ anyway!? My girlfriend’s none of your fucking business!”

“Urg…” So much for having a decent conversation! Clearly, he’d just blundered straight onto a sensitive subject, and realised too late that he should have stopped digging into it if he’d wanted to keep things civil... “You’re right… I’m sorry. It’s not my place to judge your relationship. I won’t ask about it again.”

“…Yeah…? Well, you _better_ not!” Umeki snarled at him. And that was where the conversation died. _Barely_ any longer than how his conversations all went in middle school, and _that_ was only because he’d started an argument with the person he was talking to! Maybe he _should_ have just waited for Mondo to mediate between him before trying to get to know his anyone here… Walking in disinterested silence would have been better than walking along in angry silence.

Eventually, and somewhat to his surprise, Umeki led him to a somewhat run-down building that looked like it would have once had white walls and a neatly tiled roof.

“Hah… Hope you weren’t expecting a fancy bathhouse, or something…” Umeki spoke a lot more calmly that Kiyotaka had been expecting, looking at him for the first time since they’d argued. “Just cold showers, here…”

“Ah… Honestly, I was thinking we’d be washing in the _river!”_ Kiyotaka admitted, to the other boy’s surprise. “If I’d realised there were _showers_ I wouldn’t have worried about bringing biodegradable soap!”

“Huh… ok.” Umeki seemed a little put out again at his reaction as they headed inside, but at least he didn’t seem angry anymore!

Looking around, it seemed like a reasonable place to wash up. There were a few toilet stalls that were a lot nicer than the outhouses nearer the tents that he’d used so far, then some standard sinks with mirrors, and finally more stalls, each containing a shower faucet with a single button.

“Well… I think I can work out how this works, thank you!” Kiyotaka thanked his guide as he headed inside and started taking his clothes off, hoping that folding them up and hanging them over the top of the door to the stall, and then putting his towel over the top of them and placing his boots as close to the door as possible, would be enough to keep everything dry. And then it was just a case of press the button and brace himself for a cold shower…

 _“AH!”_ Which was why it came as such a shock when the water that hit the top of his head was, if anything, hotter than he set his shower back in Hope’s Peak, and led to him jumping slightly backwards with an undignified yelp.

 _“Pfft…_ Is that too cold for you…?” He could hear Umeki and some other boys sniggering from outside the stall.

Too _cold!?_ Obviously it wasn’t! Wait… was this the prank Umeki had planned? Telling him the water would be cold so he’d be surprised at it being hot? Actually, he had to admit that was quite funny. “Ahaha! No, no of course not! You got me there, though!”

“…Whaddaya mean?” Umeki said guardedly.

“I mean… pretending the water would be cold, when it’s actually hot!” Kiyotaka explained, “That was a good prank!”

“The hell is he…?”, “What kind of lame prank is…” He could hear dubious muttering from the other boys, before someone’s voice cut rang out over them all. _“The water’s HOT!?”_

That sparked a rush of activity from the boys, as it sounded like several of them ran into the other shower stalls to confirm that the water was indeed hot, and then the rest started to fight over the remaining stalls in an effort to get a shower before the hot water ran out. Presumably the water usually _was_ cold, and Umeki had just been completely truthful with him! So what had the boy been finding so funny on the way here…?

He’d have to ask Mondo about it later. For now he should probably just finish showering as quickly as possible…

…He _thought_ he’d taken a long time to get dry enough to put his underwear back on, but he was still the first person back _out_ of the shower, something the boys left waiting and squabbling over the next free shower seemed to appreciate, as they spent most of the time he was getting dressed moaning at the others to hurry up, stop hogging the hot water and let them have a turn. And he couldn’t help but agree with them. He’d managed to get fully dressed _and_ comb his hair by the time Umeki came out of the shower with a towel around his waist, dropped his clothes and scarf in a pile on the side of one of the sinks and started styling his hair…

…Now Kiyotaka could see the whole thing, it really _was_ a nice scarf! It was mostly black, but with some of the raised plait-like lines running down the scarf being in a dark yellow colour, reminiscent of the gold lines on Mondo’s coat…

“What’re you looking at?” Umeki’s asked, in an annoyed-sounding voice.

“Err… Sorry! It’s just this is the first time I’ve seen the whole thing!” Kiyotaka explained, “It really _is_ a nice scarf!”

“…Whatever.” Umeki muttered, after giving him a long look that Kiyotaka suspected was because the other boy thought he was weird. “If you’re done, you should probably move before everyone comes out and tried to sort their hair…”

“Ah! Yes, thank you!” Kiyotaka nodded, and quickly grabbed his wash bag and left…

Well… that whole interaction hadn’t ended as badly as he’d expected, after the argument. But it hadn’t exactly gone _well,_ either… It was a good thing he’d got out all the things he’d need to be able to just sit and study by himself until Mondo woke up again…

...Well, that was _that_ chapter of the textbook reviewed! Although he did have a few questions about it that he would have _liked_ to do further research on, if he'd had the opportunity to visit a library, or ask a teacher, or even so much as go online and look up the answer! Still, there was no use getting irritated about it. He’d just have to write down his questions so he wouldn’t forget them, and wait a while to get the answers to them.

Hmm… so _now_ what? After doing a few stretches, his first thought was to wonder how Mondo was doing and that perhaps he could go in to check on him. But he also suspected that if he _did_ do that when Mondo’s gang were around, he’d probably get asked a lot of awkward questions about _why_ he was going back in the tent when he’d already brought most of his belongings out here, so _that_ would have to wait until lunchtime, when he could say he was going in to check if Mondo wanted any food.

For now, he couldn’t think of anything else except for carrying on with his studying, so he reached for the rest of his books… was he more in the mood for maths or science, now…?

“Dude… Are you gonna just sit there and read _all day!?”_

Kiyotaka jumped slightly as one of the bikers, _another_ one whose name he couldn’t remember _,_ directed a question at him.

“Err… no! Probably not _all_ day! I was thinking I’d just read until Mondo wakes up!” Kiyotaka tried to assure the man he wasn’t going to neglect his physical health, but he was still giving Kiyotaka an incredibly sceptical look. “Err… And even if he _doesn’t_ , I’ll probably try and have a walk or something this afternoon…”

This didn’t seem to be helping at all… the biker was _still_ looking at him like he was completely crazy. But he’d only been sat here reading for just over an hour! And it wasn’t like there was that much else to do out here… From what Kiyotaka could see, all the people who _hadn’t_ gone off riding their bikes were all doing chores of some kind…

 _“Aaaah!” …That’s_ why the biker couldn’t believe he’d been planning to sit here all day! Everyone _else_ was pitching in to keep the place organised, and Kiyotaka was just sitting around making no effort to help them whatsoever! “I see! You’re right! I’ll start helping immediately!”

“Wh…?” The boy still looked stupefied as Kiyotaka got out of his portable chair. How, embarrassing… he must have thought Kiyotaka was _intentionally_ refusing to help, instead of just being oblivious… He’d have to find something he could help with, _quickly…_

“Ah! Laundry!” The group of three boys using the stone washing up troughs to clean a mound of clothing were the first thing his eyes caught, fortunately. “I’m good at that! I’ll go help them!”

He headed over without waiting for a response, picking up a vest from the pile and standing at the empty space on the right so he could dunk it in the soapy water the boys had filled the trough with, scrub it quickly with his hands and then bring it back up to inspect his handiwork…

That wasn’t very good! It still had a several food stains on it! He’d probably have to apply the concentrated detergent straight onto them and give them a proper scrubbing to get _those_ out… “Excuse me, could one of you pass me the soap?”

The three boys stopped the conversation they’d been having and turned sharply to stare at him for a moment, before one of them finally thought to ask… _“Why?”_

“Well, there’s a lot of stains on this vest, so I need to give it a proper scrub!” Kiyotaka explained, but once again having no effect on the confused looks he was getting.

“You’re helping us wash our clothes?” The biker closest to him asked.

“Oh! Yes!” Kiyotaka nodded. He’d been so eager to be seen to be helping that he forgot to explain himself… and they _still_ all looked confused about him being there! “I mean… If I’m going to be staying here, I should help out, shouldn’t I?”

To his surprised, the other three didn’t actually give him an answer. The one in front looked at the other two, who just shrugged back at him and passed up the bottle of soap for Kiyotaka to use in silence…

“Thank you.” Kiyotaka took it and started focusing on cleaning the vest. That was easier than trying to work out why everyone was so surprised at everything he was doing…

In the end he helped clean a few of the clothes, albeit a lot fewer than the rest of the group. Either they were much better at removing stains than he was, or he’d had terrible luck picking out clothes to wash! None of them seemed to complain, though. And he was able to more than make up for it when it came to hanging up the clothing to dry!

Once that was done, he saw that a few of the gang were setting up pots over the fire pits and asked if there was any way he could help. A good idea on his part, as it both led to them showing him how to make rice balls using a fire instead of a normal stove, _and_ meant that he was in a position to take Mondo’s food into the tent and check on him…

He looked like he was sleeping fitfully when Kiyotaka first entered the tent… but at least he _was_ sleeping without Kiyotaka being there, and he seemed to calm down slightly when Kiyotaka quietly explained that he’d just come to leave Mondo some rice balls and was going back out to help make lunch with the rest of the gang.

…A bit _too_ much lunch, as it turned out! They’d all been fighting so much over the first batch of rice he’d made, he’d assumed they were all starving and made extra, only to look like an idiot when he brought out the third batch and no one wanted any.

Then he was rather pointedly told that they didn’t need any more help, after that blunder, so he just carried on reading for another couple of hours, until it became apparent to himself that he wasn’t focusing very well and needed a break…

Well… there’d been no sign of Mondo waking up anytime soon, so perhaps it was time to take that walk he’d thought about! It would be a good idea to make sure he familiarised himself with the campsite and its facilities, after all.

Opening up the map and compass he was now keeping in his pocket, he decided he’d try to find the main entrance of the campsite. There were fences marking the outer perimeter around there, so there was less chance he’d get lost and accidentally walk outside of the safe area if he headed in that direction.

A short while later, Kiyotaka was feeling pleased with himself as he looked at the main gate to the campsite. Admittedly it had been rather easy to find, as the car park was situated close by and had signs pointing to the main gate, and he’d managed to find _that_ just by following the sounds of motorbikes… But at least he knew he’d read the map and compass correctly when working out what direction he should start walking in!

Now, he supposed the trick would be if he could find his way _back_ to where he’d started… _without_ following any of the Crazy Diamonds up there!

He retraced his steps back to the car park, seeing as it made a good landmark, and weaved his way around the group of erratically parked motorbikes, passing by one member of the gang who seemed to be checking the contents of a small box he was keeping in his helmet box, a variety of colourful cards with a picture at the top and some text and numbers at the bottom…

“Are those from one of those collectible card games?” Kiyotaka asked, hoping that perhaps he’d be willing to teach Kiyotaka the rules at some point.

 _“Huh!?”_ The boy looked up from his cards and hastily put them back in the box, startled by the sudden question. “W-what are you talking about!?”

“Err… the cards you’re holding?” The boy seemed to scowl as Kiyotaka pointed at the box, “They’re used to play a game, aren’t they? That’s why they’ve got numbers on them, isn’t it?”

“What? Are you sayin’ I look like the kind of guy who plays kids’ card games!?”

“Err… _No,_ I wouldn’t say that!” He didn’t look like any of the people who played card games over at the Reserve course at _all…_ Like most of the gang, he had a reasonably strong build, dark spiked hair and a long jacket on over his school uniform. “I didn’t even realise any of those games _were_ for children! I’ve only ever seen them being played at my high school…”

“Uhh… Really?” The boy looked slightly less panicked for a moment. “They let you guys play card games at school?”

“Well, not during classes or anything like that!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “But during our free time we’re allowed to play whatever games we like, so long as they’re not illegal! And there’s a club on the Reserve Course side of the school were lots of them meet up to play those sorts of card games together!”

“Huh…” Hrmm… Now the biker had calmed down, it seemed like Kiyotaka was just boring him. Perhaps he should take the conversation back to _him_ and _his_ cards…

“But, if you _don’t_ play those sorts of games, why do you have all those cards?” Kiyotaka asked him, having to raise his voice as another driver was pulling his bike in nearby. “Do you just like to look at the pictures?”

 _“Wh-WHAT!? NO!”_ The boy suddenly exploded angrily. “What kidna lame-ass’d wanna look at a bunch of pictures from a damn _cartoon!?”_

“Err… Sorry! I didn’t mean any offense!” Oh dear… this was starting to go _terribly_ again! “It was just the most obvious reason I could think of to own them! So why _do_ you have them…?”

“Uhh…” The biker’s eyes flicked back and forth, as if he was searching for an answer to what should have been a simple question… either _that,_ or he was getting distracted by Yukimaru, who had turned out to be the driver who was just parking up nearby… “I stole ‘em.”

**…HE DID _WHAT!?_**

* * *

_“YOU **STOLE** THEM!?” _Urggh… Fucking _hell,_ what had made Mitsukuni think _that_ was a good thing to tell the nerd!? Now the guy was screeching his head off! “ _Wh… Why would you DO that!?”_

“Uhh… Well… some of the rare cards can be worth money…” And now Ishimaru’s face was turning purple as the dumbass dug himself in even deeper, rather than just admit he collected pokemon cards to a guy who wouldn’t have given two shits anyway! Takemichi had better get involved before this clusterfuck got any worse…

“Hey! What’s going on here!?” He snapped at the pair of them loudly, just before Ishimaru started yelling again. Of course that just mean the nerd started yelling in _his_ direction instead…

“One of your gang just admitted that he’s intending to sell _stolen goods!”_ Ishimaru barked, angrily. “And I suspect he stole them from a _child,_ because he told me they’re from a _children’s_ card game!”

“Hey _fuck you!_ I wouldn’t have stolen from fucking _kids!”_ Mitsukuni snapped back at him.

“Then how _did_ you know they’re meant for children!?” Ishimaru asked, like it wasn’t completely obvious!

 _“Everyone_ knows pokemon’s for kids!” Takemichi pointed out. “You need to calm the hell down and quit assuming the worst…”

“How did _you_ know that!?” Ishimaru suddenly started staring at _him_ suspiciously.

“Dude… you’d have to be living under a _rock_ not to know what pokemon…”

“I meant, how did you know they’re _pokemon_ cards!?” The nerd cut him off again, “He _hid_ them before you came over!”

“Urg…” Dammit! The guy was _right!_ Hell, even Mitsukuni looked surprised that he knew, but he could hardly just come out and say ‘he’s had those things for ages!’ when the guy was trying to keep it a secret!

“You’re _both_ involved in this, aren’t you!?” And now Ishimaru was back to assuming the worst. “You must have been targeting… _pokemon_ cards specifically, and…”

“What do you think this gang _is!?_ The fuckin’ _Yakuza!?”_ He couldn’t get these guys to organise a day trip half the time, let alone a fucking long-term _fencing_ operation! “You think _Mondo_ would’ve left me in charge if I was busy doing crap like that!?”

“Errrg… I… I suppose he probably would have noticed.” Ishimaru admitted, his brows furrowing. “But… it doesn’t make sense! How did you…?”

Not this again… It was like the guy was _trying_ to find something to bitch at them about! “Why do you even _care!?_ It’s not like anything you say is gonna convince Mondo to quit hanging out with us!”

“But… that’s not why I’m asking at all!”

“Then why _are_ you going on about me knowing what the cards are, if you believe I ain’t up to anything!?” Takemichi snapped at him. “And why’d it matter to you that he had ‘em in the first place!?”

“Well… The reason I originally asked was because I hoping I could join in a game sometime!” There’s no way that could be true! Why would he wanna a play a _kids’ game!?_ “And after _that_ it was just a matter of trying to understand the pair of you… why _you’d_ have cards you don’t play with and how _you’d_ know the type of card when you’d not seen them!”

“Well, just ‘cause you _wanna_ understand something, doesn’t mean we’ve gotta explain it to you!” Takemichi shrugged. “This is gang business, so it can be dealt with _by_ the gang, not _you!_ Unless you’re gonna say you don’t trust the Diamonds to do the right thing…”

“To be honest, it’s _Mondo_ I trust, not _you!_ ” Ishimaru insisted, “But I’m willing to leave this for _him_ to deal with… and if you’re being honest that there’s nothing untoward going on here, I’m sure you won’t mind me telling him what I’ve seen here… correct?”

“Sure, knock yourself out!” _Mondo_ could be the one to deal with his idiot boyfriend! “Just make sure none of the other members of the gang overhear you.”

“Fair enough!” Ishimaru nodded. “I’ll go see if he’s awake yet!”

And with that, he took a moment to check the map and compass he was holding, then marched off up the path to the tents…

“Uhh… What do you think the boss is gonna do?” Mitsukuni suddenly asked.

“Eh? Whaddaya mean?”

“I mean… If he thinks I stole shit from a kid, he’s gonna be pissed…”

“Oh… that? You ain’t gotta worry about that!” Takemichi laughed, “He _knows_ those cards are yours!”

“The fuck…? He _knows!?”_ The guy’s face froze. “So… _that’s_ how you knew they were pokemon cards!? You… you _both_ already knew I had ‘em!? Why didn’t either of you _say_ anything ‘bout ‘em!?”

“’Cause… we don’t really care, dude.” He shrugged, “You ain’t the only guy in the gang with another hobby, you know?”

“But... Pokemon’s for _kids…_ Even _you_ said that!” Mitsukuni argued, “Ain’t like any of the other guys here have a hobby that’d get ‘em laughed out the gang!”

“Eh… I can think of some.” Umeki woulda never lived it down if he’d admitted he knitted his own scarf, for starters! “But you’re all good guys, and we wouldn’t wanna lose you just ‘cause you like your dumb side-hobbies, so Mondo and I are just keeping our mouths shut about it! So, no worries ‘bout that dumbass telling him you stole a bunch of cards, alright? ‘Cause he’ll work out in a second that you only said that ‘cause you didn’t want anyone knowing you actually bought ‘em yourself!”

“Uhh… Ok.” The guy still look pretty downbeat, even after _that!_ “So… I guess I just… gotta hide the cards better and keep shut ‘bout this…?”

“You got it!” Takemichi tried to give him a pat on the back to buck him up, thought it didn’t work all that well from the look of it. “I’ll catch up with you later! I wanna make sure Ishimaru ain’t blabbing your secret to everyone in the gang!”

“Uhh… yeah! Th-thanks, man…”

Fucking _dammit!_ That guy had been here less than a _day_ and he was already fucking up members of the gang! Mondo had better wake the hell up soon and start keeping the guy in line…!

* * *

Mondo was hungry, and there was food being cooked outside.

That was the thought that woke him up, after he’d spent who knows how long drifting in and out of weird dreams about Taka...

 _Shit!_ Where _was_ Taka!? He wasn’t in the tent! There were a few riceballs on a paper plate sat on top of his sleeping bag, but the rest of his stuff had _gone…!_

…Urg. Of _course_ it was gone, Mondo had told him to take it outside so he wouldn’t be stuck in the tent listening to him snore all day! And he was gonna be perfectly fine out there, ‘cause half the gang were out there looking after him! So Mondo didn’t need to keep freaking out like this anymore… As long as Taka stayed where he was supposed to!

Maybe Mondo should go check he _had_ stayed where he was supposed to…

“Ah! Mondo!” Hah… he needn’t have worried. He’d barely stuck his head out of the tent to look around before Taka spotted him from his seat, which he’d unfolded right next to it. “I hope you had a nice sleep!”

“Uhh… yeah, I did! Aside from a few weird dreams, anyway…” He admitted. “How about you? You have a good day?”

“Errrg…” Aww, hell! That pretty much gave him all the answer he needed to _that_ question!

“What happened?” If anyone in the gang had decided to be an _ass_ to Taka, Mondo was gonna be knocking _heads_ together…!

“Ah… It’s something we need to discuss in _private!”_ Huh. He wasn’t expecting Taka to say that… especially not when no one in the gang looked like they were listening anyway! “But I think dinner’s ready, so I’ll tell you after we eat! Apparently Hasimoto’s decided to make curry today!”

“Alright then.” That suited him and his stomach just fine, so long as Taka _did_ end up telling him what was up.

Mondo got out of the tent and found him and Taka an empty spot in the circle the gang had formed around Hasi, who was busy serving up plates of meat, potatoes and the occasional vegetable, all slathered in a dark orange sauce. He’d _wanted_ to try and sit next to Michi, but the guy was already surrounded by several people before they got there.

“So you’re finally awake, eh?” Not that it stopped Michi from shouting over to him as they arrived, “Just in time to eat!”

“Aww, come on! You can’t expect me to sleep through _dinner!”_ Mondo laughed back at him. “’Specially when it smells _this_ good!”

“Hah! Guess I can’t argue with you there!” The guy picked out some of his food and stuffed it in his mouth. “This is some good shit!”

“Awesome!” Man, he was really looking forward to a good meal…

It was weird though… looking around the _rest_ of the gang, it looked like he was the only person who _was!_ Everyone aside from Michi was eating really slowly tonight.

“Here ya go, boss!” Hasi eventually passed him and Taka up a plate of the strong-smelling curry each. “I, uhh… Figured I’d try out some of that curry powder stuff you were talking about this morning!”

“Thanks, Hasi!” Mondo was so hungry he barely remembered to blow on the food before digging his hand in to grab a chunk of meat.

“Oh… yes, thank you!” Taka sounded less eager to eat as he started getting his chopsticks out of his front pocket. Probably ‘cause he wasn’t a huge fan of curries in the first place.

But Hasi was a good cook, so Taka’s probably get over that once he tried the stuff himself! And in the meantime, this piece of beef was cool enough to eat, now, so in it went!

… _Damn!_ That was still pretty hot after all! Or was it just spicy…?

Oh _shit…_ This wasn’t ‘just spicy’, it was fucking _painfully_ spicy! No wonder everyone else was eating so damn slow! Hasi had turned his suggestion of ‘spicing things up’ into a fucking _challenge!_ Was he pissed off ‘cause Mondo had said about curry powder helping if you ate the same shit all the time? Man, Mondo _hoped_ not! He’d been thinking about _Taka’s_ cooking when he said that, not _Hasi’s!_ But the guy could’ve taken it the wrong way and decided to cook up something Mondo was _barely_ gonna be able to eat at all as revenge for the insult…

“So, whaddaya think…?” He wasn’t sure who’d asked him that. Just that it was someone from the gang, so he wasn’t gonna wimp out and admit what he _actually_ thought of it!

“…’S nice.” He swallowed and then lied through his teeth. “Got a good kick to it.”

“That’s good to hear!” Taka chirped happily, and then stuffed a big lump of potato into his mouth…

 _Oh shit._ This shit was too spicy for _him!_ What the hell was poor _Taka_ gonna think, especially when Mondo had just given him no fucking warning whatsoever about it!

The poor guy had barely got the potato past his lips before his eyes bulged open. Then he grimaced and rushed to chew and swallow the thing as fast as possible. Though Mondo was guessing it probably didn’t help much, ‘cause after that he started coughing violently and then downed half a bottle of water in one gulp, all while the gang started laughing at him…

 _“Huuurgh…! *Caff, caff*…”_ Even after the water, Taka was still coughing, and his eyes were starting to water. “Gaaah! That… is it _supposed_ to be that spicy!?”

“Whaddaya mean!? Of _course_ I meant it to be that spicy!” Hasi snapped at him. “I made it _just_ the way I like it!”

“Ah… I’m sorry! It’s just… the only time I’ve ever tried anything anywhere _near_ that hot, it was when Makoto used _table_ spoons or spice when the recipe said _tea_ spoons!” Taka apologised. “I’m not going to be able to eat this as it is!”

“W-well… I wasn’t _using_ a recipe! I _told_ you, I ain’t some poncy _chef!_ I just throw in whatever shit I think’ll taste good!” Hasi suddenly got defensive… wait, don’t tell him that Taka had got it right and this _was_ ‘cause Hasi had fucked up and used a bigger spoon to dish out the curry powder than he shoulda… “It sounds like you and your friend are _wimps!_ And that ain’t _my_ problem! No one _else_ is bitchin’ ‘bout my cooking!”

“Err… I suppose I _do_ have quite sensitive tastes…” More like Taka was the only one being honest _about it_ , even as everyone else sneered at him for it. “I don’t suppose you have anything I could use to cool it down, do you?”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Well, Makoto and I used yogurt last time! That worked well!” Taka told him, though there was no chance anyone woulda brought _that_ with them! “And… I _think_ the internet also said milk, or peanut butter… Do you have any of those to spare?”

“Well, there _is_ half a pot of yogurt left, if you’re gonna be _that_ much of a wimp about it!” Hasi rolled his eyes at Taka and headed back to the stoves to fetch it for him.

“…Thank you.” Taka glowered at him as he took the yogurt, obviously irritated at everyone’s attitude, but doing his best not to give them any _extra_ reason to mock him.

And after a while, and a few warning glares from Mondo, everyone _did_ quit staring at him as he kept quietly adding some yogurt to the dish, carefully tasting it and then deciding to add some more, until he’d emptied the entire pot into his dinner and started eating it a hell of a lot faster than most of _them_ were, turning most of the mocking sneers into jealous stares as everyone started regretting pretending that they could handle the heat…

“Enjoying your _yogurt_ , Ishimaru?” Everyone except Michi, anyway… _He_ seemed to wanna keep making fun of Taka, either ‘cause Taka had just caught up to the amount _he’d_ already eaten, or ‘cause Michi had noticed the gang were getting jealous of him.

“Yes, thank you!” Michi’s insult flew right over Taka’s head. “I see what you mean about having it having a nice kick to it! Although I must admit I still wouldn’t usually eat something this spicy without any rice!”

No kidding… Mondo would take a week worth of detentions for a bowl of rice right now… Or even just those rice balls Taka had left in the tent! But he couldn’t risk his rep with the gang for something as petty as that, not when they were what was keeping Taka safe!

On the other hand… their opinion of Taka was already at an all-time low, so no reason _he_ couldn’t have the rice… “Well… I never ate those rice balls you left in the tent, so if ya wanna go grab those…”

“Of course! I forgot all about those!” Taka stood up so fast he almost dumped his curry on the ground. “Where did they… Ah! I see, hang on…”

Taka quickly marched off… _away_ from the tents? Why was he rummaging around in the cooking pans? Did he think Mondo had put them all away, or…?

His questions were answered when Taka came back and showed everyone a pan that was full to damn _brim_ with riceballs…! “I made too many of these at lunchtime!” He admitted, as everyone froze and looked longingly at the things. “But if we could all eat just one each, then they wouldn’t go to waste!”

There was utter silence from the gang, as none of them wanted to be stupid enough to tell him _no,_ but no one wanted to be the first guy to wimp out and say _yes_ either…

“Err… anyone?” ‘Course, Taka hadn’t picked up on any of that. All _he_ could see were a bunch of guys who were just flat-out refusing his cooking. _“Mondo…?”_

Aww, _fuck!_ He couldn’t say no to _that_ face! Even if all he did was just _take_ one of ‘em and not eat it till he’d finished the rest of curry, so he didn’t look like a laughing stock… “Well, if they’re gonna go to waste otherwise, I might as well take _one_ …”

“Certainly!” Taka brought the pan over and Mondo took one at random, knowing they’d all be the same size anyway if Taka was the one who made ‘em. “Anyone else…?”

He almost fell over from shock when half the gang suddenly agreed to take one, and the _rest_ of ‘em just decided to grab one out of the pan as he was passing it around, meaning Taka ended up with just two left in there by the time he came back and sat next to Mondo…

“Hmm… Did I miscount, or has someone not taken one?” Taka frowned at the pan as he took a ball out for himself.

Mondo looked around the group… His first thought was that maybe Hasi had skipped taking one, but he was already halfway through his one, so that wasn’t it! The only people who weren’t desperately stuffing rice in their faces were himself, Taka and…

 _“Michi!?”_ Mondo snapped as he noticed the guy was still stubbornly soldiering on through his curry. “What gives, man? You ain’t gonna grow big and strong if ya don’t eat enough, ya know!”

“Fuck you, Mondo!” Michi smirked at him, “I just wanted ta make sure the nerd could count right before I took one! I’ll eat mine _after_ I finish my curry!”

Damn… so he still wanted to beat the challenge, even when the guy who’d _made_ the challenge had given up? Well, he wasn’t the only one here who could be a stubborn asshole… “Sounds like a good plan!”

He put the riceball down on his leg and carried on chewing his way through the food, trying to ignore the burning in his throat and the tears forming in his eyes…

Urggh! This was _awful!_ Why the fuck had he had to turn _this_ shit into a competition, of all things!?

But at least it was a completion he was _winning!_ He could see Michi was starting to slow down! Soon he’d give up like the rest of the gang had done _ages_ ago, and then he’d take his riceball, and _that_ would mean Mondo would only have to eat a few more mouthfuls before he could shove the whole of _his_ one into his mouth to!

Least that’s what he’d thought would happen. But the damn pipsqueak kept on eating, and then the gang started jeering them both on, which meant Mondo had to keep swallowing this awful crap right down to the last fucking _vegetable!_

 _“Aaaaaaayyyy!”_ The other boys all whooped as they both finished eating at the same time, even though it had left Mondo covered in sweat and with gross snot coming out of his nose. But at least he was finally fucking _done,_ and he just had to wait for Michi to come and get his damn riceball, so Mondo could eat his!

“Err… well done!” Meanwhile, Taka looked completely bewildered by the gang’s response. Probably ‘cause he’d finished all of _his_ food ages ago, and no one had said anything about it… “Would you like your riceball now?”

“Honestly, I’m kinda full up after all that…” Oh for _fuck’s sake!_ Was Michi seriously gonna keep on with this shit!? Could the little asshole not fucking _taste_ how spicy this was or something!? That might explain why _he_ wasn’t sweating half as much as Mondo was! “Someone else can have mine…”

 _Urrrggh!_ Great! So now Mondo had to give up _his_ rice, too! “Yeah… same, here.” He threw his ball back into Taka’s pan.

He could really do with having an excuse to sneak off and get a drink or _something_ to calm down the burning in his throat _soon_ though!

“Oh… Well, as everyone else is full, too…” Taka started muttering as his hand moved to grab the rice…

“I’ll take it!” Only for a good ten or so guys to suddenly yell at him, with the couple sat on the other side of him going as far as to actually snatch the pan out of his hand, which then started a full-on fight over the damn things, with several bowls of half-eaten curry getting knocked over in the process…

All while Taka looked on with an angry fucking look on his face that Mondo hadn’t seen in over half a year... the exact same look Taka had given him when they challenged each other the endurance competition in the sauna.

But it probably wasn’t a good idea for him to let Taka try and take on his entire gang… not without knowing exactly _what_ had made him so pissed off at them, ‘cause Mondo couldn’t believe it was _just_ ‘cause of some wasted dinner…

“Hey… You said you had something to tell me?” He pulled on Taka’s arm just as the guy took a deep breath in to shout, causing it to come out as a surprised gasp and a sigh instead. “Come on… no one’s gonna hear us in the tent while _that’s_ going on!”

“…You’re probably right. Let’s go.” Taka admitted, reluctantly turning away from the fight and heading into the tent instead.

…The tent where there was a whole _plate_ of riceballs!

Mondo barely waited for Taka to close the tent flap before picking up a ball and shoving the whole thing in his mouth, moaning a little with relief as the pain on his tongue finally dulled. “So… wha’ ‘appened?”

“Wha…? I thought you said you weren’t hungry enough for a…!?”

“Mmmmphth! Keem it dowm!” Mondo shushed him before his yelling let everyone in the gang know he’d wimped out the second he was out of their sight.

Thankfully, Taka _did_ fall silent as Mondo finished swallowing the rice, drank half a bottle of water, and then bit into a second riceball. Although it looked like that was only ‘cause he was so confused he couldn’t think of what _to_ say.”

“…Are you done now?” Was what the guy ended up asking, as Mondo finished off the second lot of rice.

“Yeah, thanks.” Mondo nodded, “But if anyone asks, _you_ ate those.”

 _“What!?_ Why!?” Taka’s voice rose again, until Mondo signalled at him to quiet down. “Hang on… Are you trying to hide the fact that the food was spicier than you’d have liked?”

“That’s one way to put it…” Mondo laughed, making Taka’s head tilt in confusion. “Taka… _no one_ actually _liked_ that food! Well… ‘cept maybe Michi.”

“But then why didn’t any of you _say_ anything! We could have cooked up more rice to go with it! Or someone could have driven out for more yogurt!” Taka asked, frustrated at out how easy it woulda been to have a _nice_ dinner if they’d just not been stubborn about it.

“Yeah, but _that_ would mean admitting that we couldn’t just... ‘man up’ and _deal_ with it! And no one wants to be the first guy to do that!” Mondo admitted, even though it kinda sounded stupid as hell now he had to explain it to Taka… “So, it kinda turns into a competition to eat the most food without complaining…”

“A competition!? So… to _you_ , I bowed out after a single mouthful…!?” Taka frowned, “But… No one _told_ me that it was supposed to be an endurance contest!”

“Well, it’s not like we _planned_ for it to be like that!” Mondo told him, “Hasi just added too much spice and didn’t wanna admit he’d fucked up, so acted like he’d _meant_ to make it like that, so then we all had to act like it really was fine, else we’d look like wimps.”

“Even though _he_ didn’t like it either!?” Taka cried, “He could have just fixed the problem before serving it to us!”

“’Cept he didn’t know _how_ , remember? You had to tell him about adding more yogurt.” Mondo pointed out, “And he couldn’t just ask for advice, ‘cause it would have meant admitting he’d read a recipe wrong and fucked dinner up.”

“But he wasn’t _using_ a recipe…” Oh boy… Taka had _really_ misunderstood that guy.

“No, Taka… I’m pretty sure he _does_ lookup recipes.” Mondo corrected him, “He just doesn’t wanna admit it ‘cause he’s been told that guys ain’t _supposed_ to cook, and any of them that do are ‘poncy chef’s’. That’s why he got all defensive when you asked about the herbs at breakfast.”

 _“Urrghh…_ That’s ridiculous! Men need to know how to make food for themselves as much as women do!” Taka growled.

“I _know_ …” Mondo admitted with a sigh, “But it ain’t like I can just change everyone’s whole worldview, is it? I felt like I was pushing it when I took the riceball from you, even though everyone else took one straight after!”

“Ah… but they only took one because _you’d_ already taken the risk and done it first!” Taka only just realised. “So _you’re_ able to act as a positive influence…”

Taka’s eyes sparked. He was coming up with some kinda plan to try and get Mondo to convince Hasi to admit to cooking, wasn’t he? But, as great as that would be, now wasn’t really the right time to risk upsetting the whole gang, so he’d better try and get Taka’s mind _off_ of that idea…

“So, what was the thing you needed to tell me?”

“Hmm…? Oh, _that!”_ His distraction worked, as Taka’s face turned grim and serious. “Well… I went for a walk to the carpark, and while I was there I noticed… one of your gang looking through a box of cards…”

“Were they pokemon cards?” Mondo asked, “’Cause if it was, that’d probably be Mitsukuni.”

“You mean you _know_ about them!?” Taka looked completely shocked about it.

“Yeah? He checks that box after every ride.” Mondo shrugged. “And I’ve even spotted him buying those packs of ‘em, a couple of times.”

“You’ve seen him _buying_ them!?” Taka’s brows knitted together, “But he told me he _stole_ them!”

Oh boy… No wonder Taka had looked so upset about it! Though it was kinda surprising that he hadn’t worked out _why_ the guy had said it, given what they’d _just_ been talkin’ about…

“Taka… think about this for a sec, okay?” Mondo figured it’d probably be easier to get him to work it out for himself than to spell it out again. “Given that stuff I said about Hasi being embarrassed to admit to cooking, _and_ that tough action-hero type guys ain’t usually seeing playing pokemon games… why’d ya think he might’ve told ya that…?”

“Err… Because… he’d rather pretend he’s a _thief_ than admit he likes a card game that’s supposed to be for children…?” Taka got it right first go. “…Especially when Yukimaru was there? Wait, no… that doesn’t make sense! Yukimaru already _knows_ about them, doesn’t he…?”

“Yeah, I’ve mentioned it to him.” Mondo remembered, “But I’m pretty sure neither of us have ever said anything to Mitsukuni about it, so he wouldn’t have known that.”

“Why not?” Taka was back to looking confused again.

“Uhh…” Why _hadn’t_ he ever thought to mention it to the guy? “Honestly, I dunno exactly why I didn’t. I just figured it’d be a bad idea… Might just make him embarrassed he’d done such a shit job of keeping it secret.”

“Hrmmm…” Dammit, why did Taka look like he was trying to work out if Mondo was lying, or something?

“Well… anyway, does that answer all your worried ‘bout today?” Mondo asked, just to get the guy to quit staring at him like that!

“Hmm… Actually… I might be off mark here, but given what you’ve said so far…” Taka looked apprehensive about what he was about to say. “Did Umeki knit his own scarf? And then _pretend_ he has a girlfriend who made it for him?”

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure that’s what he did, anyway.” Mondo grinned, glad Taka was getting the hang of how the guys in the gang thought. “Anyway, let’s go back out before they wonder what the hell’s going on, okay?”

“Alright… ah, but one moment!” Taka moved forward, moving in close to Mondo’s face. Guess the guy wanted a kiss before they went back out there… “You’ve got a piece of rice just… _there!”_ Taka quickly picked a bit of rice from the corner of his mouth. “There you go!”

Damn… no kiss, then?

…Fuck _that!_

“It’d be hard to pretend you’ve not been eating rice if you had a _aaH!”_ Taka let out a little yelp as Mondo grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him back in and pushed their mouths together… _“Mmpth!_ ”

Taka froze at first, just long enough for Mondo to think he’d fucked up and had better stop, then hesitantly tried to join in the kiss for all of _three_ _seconds_ before shaking his head and pulling back and hurrying over to the bottle of water and taking a long swig…

“Wha…? Does my mouth still taste of curry?” Goddamn Hasi for cooking that shit! And Michi for making him eat so much of it!

 _“That…”_ Taka agreed, scowling, “ _And_ you haven’t brushed your teeth since… err…”

Since the _last_ time Taka told him to clean himself, which was… _Urgh,_ he was lucky Taka had even _tried_ kissing him back!

“Shit… sorry. I’ll do it before bed tonight. Man’s promise.”

“Please do.” Taka insisted, taking another gulp of water. “I’m amazed you can even wait _that_ long! I think _I_ might need to go brush mine _now!”_

Damn, was it really _that_ bad, or was Taka just being a picky ass about it? But either way… “Well, if I go right _now_ then it’d look like I was doing it ‘cause the curry was too hot. So I gotta go hang with ‘em for a _little_ bit before we all start going to bed…” Taka gaped at him as he explained that, “But _you’re_ free to go now, if you’re not up for that.”

“Well… I didn’t sleep much yesterday.” Taka admitted, “Perhaps I’ll have an early night and then spend more time with your gang tomorrow _. And_ apologise to Yukimaru and Mitsukuni about earlier! _”_

“Thanks.” Mondo would usually have kissed him, but thought better of it and just ruffled his hair instead. “Just make sure you do it while they’re alone, alright?”

“Of course!” Taka nodded.

“Great! Hope you sleep better tonight…” Mondo told him, realising as he said it that trucking in at 2am last night might have had something to do with _why_ Taka hadn’t slept well in the first place. “I’ll, uhh… try and be a bit quieter this time…”

“Thank you! I hope you have a good evening!” Taka quickly grabbed him by the arm and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek just as he was about to leave. “…And I’m glad you feel safe out here!”

“Uhh… _yeah…”_ Mondo’s breath caught at that. Partly ‘cause it was a reminder that they’d needed to come out here to _be_ safe, not just _feel_ it. But also ‘cause he had no idea why Taka had suddenly decided to bring it up _now…_ “Anyway, just… make sure you take your torch with you when you go to the showers, ‘cause it can get dark real quick out here…”

“Thank you! I will do!” Taka nodded, heading to his suitcase for the self-defence torch Sayaka had let him keep.

…He’d be _fine!_ No one knew they were out there, and now he had that _and_ his shinai with him! It was gonna be fine!

…But maybe he’d still keep an eye on what time Taka left the tent, so he could go and check up on the guy if he didn’t come back quick enough…

* * *

(Wednesday September 26th 2012)

Kiyotaka was pleasantly surprised to wake up with Mondo’s arms wrapped around him, even if he could only feel them through his sleeping bag. He wasn’t even aware that he’d come back at all, which must mean he’d managed to fall and _stay_ asleep nice and early last night! Which was good, after he’d barely managed to get to sleep the night before…

Still, he wasn’t quite feeling awake enough to try and fight his way out of Mondo’s arms, so settled for taking a moment to stretch his body out as much as was possible in the sleeping bag, before shuffling himself a little closer to Mondo…

Hmmm… Mondo smelt a lot cleaner this morning… it seemed he _had_ kept that promise last night! Hopefully it meant he’d be feeling a lot better today, and would actually be able to help Kiyotaka get along with the rest of the gang. Even _with_ the advice Mondo had given him yesterday, it would still be nice to have him there to explain when he was misunderstanding things!

Plus, it made snuggling up against him as he tried to see if he was going to fall asleep again a lot more enjoyable…

But all too soon the peace started to be broken by the sounds of people rustling and quiet talking from the other tents around them, which were replaced all-too-soon by running footsteps and shouts… What on Earth was going _on_ out there? It almost sounded like there was a big fight going on. Or they were all arguing over something.

“Ngh… What’s going on…!?” Mondo’s arms squeezed his body tightly as he woke up to the angry racket outside.

“I’m not sure…” Kiyotaka admitted, “It sounded like everyone was just getting up like normal, but then they all started running about and arguing over something…”

“Arguing…?” Mondo paused for a moment to process the noise coming from outside. “Ah, okay… must just be cereal for breakfast.”

 _“What!?”_ Now Kiyotaka was the one shouting. “Why would _cereal_ cause an argument…?”

“Oh… it’s ‘cause we buy these big multi-pack things… you know, where you get little boxes of five different cereals?” Mondo started to explain, “So there’s _one_ that’s this… healthy whole-wheat thing, two that’re just normal cereals, and two that’ve got either loads of sugar or chocolate on ‘em…”

Only _one_ good option!? Out of _Five!?_ “So… if I want a _healthy_ breakfast, I’ve got to get up _now_ and fight your gang for it?” He summarised, as he quickly wrestled out of Mondo’s arms and started to unzip his sleeping bag…

“Huh!?” Mondo blinked at him, before suddenly breaking out into laughter… _“Bahaha! No,_ you _dork!_ If you want the _healthy_ shit, you can lie in all _week!_ It’s the _sugary_ stuff they’re fighting over!”

“ _Ah_ …” Of course it was. He knew Mondo loved overly-sweet breakfasts, he should have guessed his gang would have similar tastes… “But then why aren’t _you_ in a rush to get out there?”

“’Cause they’ll save me a box of the good stuff.” Mondo grinned, “Perks of being the boss!”

“Hrmmm…” Kiyotaka couldn’t help but feel… _unimpressed_ at Mondo for taking advantage of his position in the gang like that, even though he knew it was such a little thing to get annoyed at. It just didn’t seem fair that he could lounge in here all day and still get what he wanted, despite everyone out there getting worked up enough over it to _fight_ each other…

“’Course, that don’t mean they’ll save it for me _forever…”_ Mondo gave him a brief odd look as he sat upright, then stretched his arms up. “Just enough time to get my hair sorted so I don’t look like a mess when I head out there…”

“I see…” That seemed… a _little_ fairer. Of course, it’d probably be better to have a system that didn’t involve fighting each other over breakfast in the first place, but that wasn’t something that was likely to change, was it…?

As Mondo had expected, even though neither of them rushed to get ready and they took a moment to exchange some longer kisses now that Mondo had _thankfully_ brushed his teeth, they didn’t have any trouble getting the cereals they wanted. They were barely out of the tent when Kiyotaka’s foot hit a box of the healthier brand that had been carelessly discarded in the scuffle, and then Yukimaru passed over some milk and a box with a cartoon animal on it that he said he’d been saving for Mondo. So, now he just needed a bowl to pour this into, and a spoon to eat it with!

…Neither of which appeared to be forthcoming… or anywhere in sight at all, for that matter!

“Err… Don’t we need a bowl?” Kiyotaka asked the other two, who’d already opened up their boxes and were carefully tearing the top of the plastic bags within. “And a spoon?”

“Oh! Uhh… no, we don’t usually bother with that…” Mondo looked a little embarrassed about it now Kiyotaka had mentioned it, even though Yukimaru was rolling his eyes at Kiyotaka for wanting cutlery again. “See… we usually just pour the milk into the bag with the cereal and then drink it outta there…”

 _“…Drink_ it?” Kiyotaka asked, both because he couldn’t quite believe _that’s_ what Mondo had said, and couldn’t figure out _how_ it’d work if _was…_

“Y-yeah… Here lemme show you!” Mondo offered, grabbing the milk bottle out of Yukimaru’s hand. “You just pour in a little, not too much or it goes all mushy, shake it up a little to mix it all, take the bag outta the box and _drink…!_ ”

Kiyotaka tried his best not to look as horrified as he felt when Mondo tipped up the flimsy-looking bag full of unappetising _brown goopy… stuff_ up to his mouth and half-swallowed, half- _bit_ into it.

He probably failed though, especially when Mondo over-estimated how much he needed to tip the bag up and caused a stream of chocolate-stained milk to run out down the side of his face and halfway down his neck… And just after he’d finally showered last night as well…

“See! Easy!” Mondo exclaimed, with an unnecessary amount of cheerfulness, before absent-mindedly wiping the mess on his face off onto his bare wrist. “You wanna try?”

 _“No!”_ The sharp word was out of his mouth before he really thought about it, and he noticed Yukimaru glare at him for it, even though Mondo just shrugged at him. “Err… I think I’d rather just eat the cereal and drink the milk separately…” He added, trying to sound a _little_ less rude about it.

“Yeah, figured you might…” Mondo smirked at him as he opened the bag and started picking out the flakes within and eating them dry... Not the _nicest_ breakfast, especially not compared with yesterday’s offer, but a million times better than what Mondo and Yukimaru were doing, even though it was so slow he wasn’t able to even _try_ joining in the conversation they had after eating before Mondo asked Yukimaru if it was getting close to the time he had to go to his school…

“Yeah, yeah it is…” Yukimaru answered, looking at Kiyotaka irritably as he was _still_ eating. “Guess I’ll see ya later, then.”

“Yeah, uhh… try and make the best of it?” Mondo sounded unusually awkward as he tried to cheer Yukimaru up about it. “I promise we won’t do anything fun while you’re gone!”

“Ah, yes! There’ll probably be more chores for us to do today, right?” Kiyotaka tried to add to the point, only for _both_ of them to give him a puzzled look…

“Well, have a shitty day then…?” Yukimaru eventually carried on Mondo’s joke as if Kiyotaka hadn’t said anything, then raised his voice to the rest of the group. “Anyone whose got school today, now’s the time to get off your ass!”

 _That_ spurred several of the group into action, and soon the campsite had roughly a fifth of the group left, with none of them making any obvious plans to move.

“So… what _will_ we be doing to…”

“What’s this about there being _‘more’_ chores for you to do?” Mondo suddenly cut off his question. “Are you telling me you didn’t even manage _one day_ out here before you needed to start tidying everything up!?”

“It’s not that I _needed_ to tidy things up!” Kiyotaka defended himself, “In fact, if I hadn’t been _told_ to help out, I’d have probably carried on reading all morning…”

“Wha…?” Mondo scowled, “Whaddaya _mean_ you were _told_ to help out!?”

“Err… Well, I’d been so busy taking notes from my book that I didn’t notice everyone else was working…” He admitted, sheepishly. “So I didn’t know they’d want help…”

“No, Taka… That ain’t the part that’s the problem!” Mondo interrupted him, “You’re here as one of _my_ friends, that means they shouldn’t be asking you to do shit for them! Hell, if anything _they_ oughta be offering to help _you!”_

“What!? No they shouldn’t!” Kiyotaka snapped at him… This was the second time _this morning_ Mondo was taking advantage of being the gang’s leader! “Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you can expect them to cater to us whenever we want!”

“Urrgghh… okay, _yeah_ I don’t mean they’ve gotta do _whatever_ you want, and it _will_ help out if you pitch in with chores so they don’t resent you being here…” Mondo sighed, “But they shouldn’t be ordering you around either! That’s like if they tried to order _me_ to do something! I’m the _leader,_ it looks _bad_ if I start taking orders from people!”

“Hrmm…” It seemed like Mondo was more concerned about _appearing_ to be at the top of the pecking order, rather than reaping the benefits. But that shouldn’t mean people shouldn’t be allowed to complain about his behaviour if they needed to…

 _“Huuuh…_ Look… Were they at least _polite_ about it when they asked?” Mondo sighed at him, “Like, what _exactly_ did they say to you?”

“Well… All he said was ‘Dude… Are you gonna just sit there and read _all day.’_ When I went to pick up a second book. _”_ Kiyotaka recounted. “And that’s when I realised everyone else was working, so I went over to start helping!”

“Uhh… so it was just _one_ guy?” Mondo checked, “And he didn’t even mention chores, you just _figured_ that’s what he was going on about…?”

“Yes!” Kiyotaka nodded, which made Mondo stifle a laugh. “What!?”

“Taka… he probably wasn’t bitching at you for not helping.” Mondo chuckled, “He just thought it was weird that you’d _willingly_ spend time off from school _reading!”_

 _“What!?_ But…” He’d almost asked what was so odd about reading in your spare time, before remembering Mondo’s reaction to him and Chihiro deciding to join a _book club…_ “…That… _would_ explain why the others looked so surprised when I started helping with the laundry…”

“Yeah… it’d be like if a friend of one of the _teachers_ at school suddenly came in and helped clean our classroom.” Mondo explained, “I wouldn’t tell ‘em _no,_ but I’d sure as hell wonder why the fuck they’d decided to do it!”

Yes… that was _exactly_ how the others had reacted, in retrospect! If only he’d taken a moment to think about exactly what the boy had been asking… “Still… is it _really_ that odd for someone to want to spend a day reading?”

“Well… Now you’ve shown me some _good_ books, I know it ain’t _that_ weird!” Mondo grinned, “But seeing as _someone_ wimped out of coming along and reading to them back in Easter, _they_ don’t!”

 _“Touché…”_ Kiyotaka admitted, “So, when _do_ you want me to read to them?”

“Uhh…” Mondo looked a little surprised by the question, and had to consider it for a moment. “Hmm. Well, they do all still seem a little worn out from Monday’s party… So, _tonight_ would probably be a good time for it!”

“Oh!” That was a _little_ more sudden then he’d been expecting, but… “Alright! But, I’ll need some time today to make sure I’ve picked a book and familiarised myself with it!”

“Sure! Hell, I’ll even come and help you pick a good one!” Mondo almost started dragging him back to the tent. “I want _all_ the guys to enjoy this!”

* * *

Takemichi was so fucking tempted to skip this last class, today…

Hell, he’d been tempted to skip the _whole_ day, as soon as he’d seen Mondo had been awake this morning, and looking a hell of a lot better than he had been yesterday! And he probably _would_ have, if Mondo himself hadn’t innocently asked him whether he needed to get to his school anytime soon…

 _Just_ him, though. He didn’t seem to give a shit about any of the _other_ guys in the gang skipping school to hang out with him and his _‘friend’_. Just _Takemichi._

Was it ‘cause _he_ knew? Or was it just ‘cause Mondo was worrying about him ‘cause of all the time he’d skipped _last_ year?

Maybe he shoulda asked? If it was ‘cause he was worried about Takemichi’s grades, he might have been able to convince the guy that they’d actually become pretty decent now, mostly thanks to his tutoring. Then he’d have been able to stick around and see more of him…

And his new _boyfriend_. What would _that_ have been like? Spending the day noticing whenever Ishimaru did dumb shit like touching Mondo’s arm or trying to hold him steady when he didn’t need it, and wondering if Mondo woulda dated _him_ if he’d ever tried doing stuff like that...

 _Dammit…_ Maybe it _was_ better that he’d come to school and spared himself that. Even _thinking_ about the two of them was starting to piss him off! It didn’t even make any _sense!_ Sure, maybe Mondo had some… hobbies and inner depths he was too embarrassed to show him and the _gang,_ but why the _hell_ did he wanna date a guy who didn’t trust him, kept nagging at him, and pointed out _every_ dumb little thing Mondo did wrong…!?

“You alright, boss?” Takemichi was snapped out of his thoughts by the voice of Kino, the only other member of the gang to share the same school and classes as him.

“Uhh… Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered, probably too defensively, ‘cause now Kino was looking down at him weirdly. “Just forgot what class we have next.”

“It’s Literature!” Kino grinned, though Takemichi wasn’t sure if that was ‘cause he’d been able to answer the question or ‘cause he actually _liked_ that class… “You want some extra water? You sounded like you were struggling last week…”

“Uhh… yeah. I’m probably gonna need it, ain’t I…?” Ever since their new dick of a teacher had picked him to read out loud a few weeks ago, and looked surprised that he actually _could_ read right after, most of the chicks in their class had kept making sure he be picked almost _every_ class. And kept going on about him sounding _really_ good at it, even when he’d have to stop and work out what some of the longer words were. “Unless you wanna _skip,_ instead…”

“Why would _I_ wanna skip? It’s the last lesson of the day, and all I gotta do is sit and listen to you and the teach reading a story, then I don’t get bitched at for skipping!” Kino laughed. “’…Sides, I kinda wanna know what happens next…”

 _Huh…_ guess he really _did_ like this class. Or at least the book the teacher had picked this year. And having it read out _to_ him as well, ‘cause Takemichi was pretty sure the guy’s reading was worse than his. To the point where he wasn’t even sure the guy could read at _all…_

Honestly, it was a good thing the teacher had called on _him,_ and not Kino, to read out loud to the class all those week ago. It was the only reason he hadn’t snapped at the girls who kept begging to hear him all the time…

“Right, let’s go find out what happens then…” He dug out his copy of the book from his locker and tried not to stare too hard at the way the other guy was smiling as they headed to class.

Ever since Mondo had pointed out that half the gang had hobbies they were hiding from each other, he’d started noticing stuff like this more. It seemed like every one of them had something that made them smile like that, but the minute they got called on it they’d get all defensive… Like when Ishimaru had mentioned the herbs in Hasimoto’s breakfast yesterday.

So he wasn’t gonna be a dick and harsh Kino’s good mood by pointing it out. Instead he just kept quiet as they sat down in class and waited for the teacher to arrive and start reading…

He barely paid any attention to the as the guy droned on for waaay too long. Just enough to make sure he kept on the right page and he wouldn’t look like he _hadn’t_ been listening when he was called on to carry on the story. Right now he was paying more attention to Kino, who was hanging off of every word of the story with an eager shine in his eyes. It was nice to see one of the gang look so _happy_ for once! Between being put in charge and having to deal with everyone’s problems, and people starting to worry about the way Mondo had changed since going to Hope’s Peak, it felt like all Takemichi ever did these days was deal with people who were in a shitty mood…

 _“*Ahem…*”_ Oh shit… the teacher musta noticed he wasn’t actually listening…

“Sir, you sound like you’re getting tired of reading!” One of the chicks didn’t even give the guy a chance to chew him out before starting to use it as an excuse to have _him_ take over. “Maybe you should take a break and let Yukimura read for a bit!”

“Yeah! He’s really good at the voices!” Another girl… she must be _joking_ right? He just read everything in the same voice…

“No, I think Yukimaru’s read _enough_ times, recently…” The teacher shut down the bunch of girls who were all nodding and chattering away about him being good at reading. Which he’d usually be happy about, except the fucker did it in a tone of voice that sounded like he was planning to be a dickhead about it… “It’s time someone _else_ took a turn… How abooouuuut… _Kino! You_ read!”

 _Motherfucker…_ He _knew_ Kino couldn’t read for shit, didn’t he? Takemichi could see the smug look in his eyes as Kino sat back defensively…

“Nah… Don’t wanna.” Kino crossed his arms, tryina look casual. “’Sides, all the chicks want Michi to do it!”

Well, that was his cue to step up for a fellow Diamond… “Yeah, it’s no problem! We’re on page 76, right…?”

“Read _one word_ out of that book and I’ll send you straight to the headmaster!” For _what!?_ Reading the assigned book…? He was _definitely_ just doing this to make himself feel better about being half the size of one of his _students,_ wasn’t he? Takemichi woulda _let_ him send him to the headmaster, if the headmaster wasn’t a prick who’d just _love_ an excuse to have him expelled… “You’ll _all_ have to take a turn reading at _some_ point, and today it’s going to be _you,_ Kino. _”_

“No it _ain’t!”_ Takemichi could see the asshole’s lips twitch upwards as he watched Kino squirm, “ _Pick someone else!”_

 _“No.”_ The teacher glared smugly at him, _“You’re_ going to start reading, and _we’re_ going to sit here and stare at you until you do.”

Kino started sweating a little as he realised everyone else in class _had_ started staring at him, probably wondering why he had to turn this into such a big drama for no obvious reason, but kept his cool enough to shrug and mutter… “Gonna be a quiet class, then.”

It was, for about two minutes, as Kino and the teacher glared at each other and everyone _else_ in the class started shooting each other awkward glances as they tried to figure out if they really _were_ gonna sit here in silence for the next forty minutes.

“Umm… _I_ don’t mind reading…” At least until one of the chicks tried to speak up.

 _“Quiet!”_ The asshole snapped at her, before marching right up to the front of Kino’s desk… “You can either start reading _now,_ or you can _leave_ and…”

 _“FINE!”_ Kino stood up, shoving the table into the guy’s legs as he did. “This book’s a piece of _shit_ anyway!”

“Argh… you…!” The teacher stumbled back, while Kino stormed outta the room and Takemichi started standing up to follow him. _“Hey!_ Where are _you_ going…!?”

“You heard him, this book’s shit anyway, asshole!” Takemichi flipped the bird at him as he made his way past the desks to get to the door, then started chasing after Kino once he was out… Kino had got a good head start on him, though. Enough that it looked like he’d managed to shove the hall monitor into a wall before Takemichi even _saw_ the prick, and would probably be off on his bike before Takemichi got out of the front door at this rate… “Hey! Hold up a sec!”

That got Kino to stop, though he barely turned to look back at him, and caused the hall monitor’s head to snap up… _“You too!? Both_ of you should be in class! I…”

“Don’t care!” Takemichi hopped over his legs and caught up to Kino, who was looking confused at him. “C’mon, let’s get outta here!”

“You too…?”

“ _Yeah_ , me too! We’re a _team!_ I ain’t letting you be the only one getting into trouble!” He pointed out, as he pushed Kino in the back to hurry him along. “Hell, I didn’t even wanna be there in the _first_ place, remember!?”

“Yeah, but… I wasn’t planning to get _you_ in trouble, just ‘cause _I_ screwed things up…” The guy slumped as he looked at the bottom of the wall on the other side of the hall.

“Hey, it’s that teacher being an asshole that screwed things up, not you!” Takemichi pointed out, as the headed out of the main door. “’Sides, who am _I_ gonna get in trouble with!? It’s not like my parents care if I skip classes…”

“But… didn’t the _boss_ say you shouldn’t…?” Kino frowned at him.

“Well… _yeah.”_ Takemichi admitted, irritably. He’d been hoping no one had overheard _that_ conversation. “But, he was just talking about _important_ classes! It’s not like anyone’s gonna give a shit about me reading _storybooks!”_

“Oh… yeah, I guess so…” Kino mumbled, obviously not convinced. Or maybe just not in the mood to go back to the gang with the one guy who’d _have_ to explain to Mondo why he was back from school early… Which would be even _more_ of a drama if fucking _Ishimaru_ overheard them…

“Tell you what… How’s about the pair of us go out to the city and blow off some steam on our bikes for a while? That way no one in the gang’ll even know we left early!” He suggested, which Kino thought about before giving a quick nod. “Not that it’d matter anyway! You’ve not gotta worry about books and shit with a biker gang…!”

* * *

Kiyotaka flicked the pages of the book he was going to be reading soon, nervously…

He knew Mondo had _said_ that the rest of his gang would be sure to love having it read to them, just as Mondo had… But all his interactions with them so far was starting to make him wonder if they’d actually bother to give it a chance at all, even if Mondo _did_ tell them to sit and listen to him!

And it didn’t help his nerves that Mondo had picked a book Kiyotaka couldn’t stand _,_ one about a boy who decided to get a job at a burger store in order to get revenge on another boy his girlfriend had cheated on him with… He thought the whole concept was ridiculous and the writing style irritating, but Mondo had found it hilarious and said it would be something the gang could easily get into… Assuming they actually _did_ listen to any of it. But right now he couldn’t imagine the bikers being willing to actually pay attention, and not just start chatting amongst themselves once he started.

Still, he’d told Mondo he’d do it. It wouldn’t be fair to just assume they’d all ignore him. So he carried on anxiously waiting for Yukimaru to return from his school, which was when Mondo had said he’d let the gang know what he intended to do…

Eventually he _did_ turn up, just as Kiyotaka had started secretly hoping that maybe he’d fallen ill and wouldn’t make it, alongside yet another one of the other members of the gang whose name he couldn’t remember, and Mondo had everyone gather around in a circle…

“Alright, so this is gonna be a bit… _different,_ but hear me out!” Mondo started, cutting off the last remnants of chatter between the boys. “Taka found this great book…” _And was now desperately wishing he HADN’T ever found the list that recommended it…_ “And I thought you guys’d like it to, so he said he’d start reading for ya all…”

 _“I ain’t_ _reading!”_

The group had already started murmuring discontentedly between themselves at the mention of the work _‘book’,_ but they all fell silent as the tall blonde lad who come back with Yukimaru suddenly snapped at Mondo.

“I ain’t _asking_ ya to read!” Mondo argued with him, gesturing to Kiyotaka. _“He’s_ gonna be the one reading, I’m just asking ya to _listen_ to…”

“Well, I don’t _wanna!”_ The boy snapped childishly. “I’ve had enough of fucking _books!”_

“What the hell!?” Mondo honestly seemed very confused by this member’s attitude. “Look, Kino…” _Kino! That_ was his name! “This ain’t gonna be like school shit, it’s just a story…”

“Well, I don’t _care!”_ Kino shouted angrily. “I didn’t sign up for this shit!”

“I know you fucking didn’t!” And now _Mondo_ was shouting as well, this was _not_ going well… “But all I’m asking is for ya ta sit the fuck down and stay _quiet_ for a while…!”

“Mondo… I _get_ what you’re trying to do…” Yukimaru suddenly cut into the argument, far more calmly than the other two… “But right now this is kinda like if you suddenly made _him…”_ He pointed straight at Kiyotaka, “Start learning how ta ride your bike while the _whole gang_ watched him!”

 _“What!?_ It’s nothing _like_ that!” Mondo snapped, before starting to rant at the smaller biker about how he wasn’t making any sense…

Which was something Kiyotaka could agree with! Learning a new skill versus sitting and listening to someone passively didn’t seem comparable… And where had the boy even got the idea of Kiyotaka learning to ride Mondo’s bike from? It wasn’t like he’d expressed any desire to drive it himself… and he certainly wouldn’t _want_ to, not unless he absolutely _had_ to! And why _would_ he…? Unless they both got thrown _off_ the thing, there’d be no reason why Mondo would have to suddenly stop driving, would there…?

Wait… unless… what would happen if Mondo started having a panic attack while he was driving? Would he need Kiyotaka to help him pull the bike over safely? Or possibly get them back home if they’d been far away from wherever they’d started from? Had Mondo secretly told Yukimaru that might be a possibility?

Hmm… Actually, it didn’t seem like he, or any of the other bikers, were taking Yukimaru’s suggestion as a serious possibility as they all shouted at each other… But now Kiyotaka had thought about it, maybe he _should…_ and if he could rise to the inadvertent _challenge_ in the right way, then maybe he’d be able to salvage this reading night while he was at it…!

“Alright, then, if that’s how it’s is!” He stood up and raised his voice over all the bickering, causing them all to fall quiet and stare at him. “Then I _will_ allow you all to watch Mondo’s showing me how to ride his bike tomorrow, _if_ you all sit and listen to me reading quietly _, tonight!”_

 _“Wha…!?_ But… you…?” Mondo was so flabbergasted at his offer that he couldn’t even finish his thoughts… “Taka, you ain’t gotta do that!”

“I know! But… I think it would be for the best if I _did…”_ He started, before remembering that he couldn’t mention the panic attacks in front of the gang… “I mean… it’s only fair for me to be willing to participate in _their_ activities, if I’m expecting them to take part in things _I_ want them to…”

“Uhh… I mean… I guess you gotta point…” Mondo admitted, before turning to the rest of them… “Alright, you heard him! Does that seem fair, or are you all gonna keep bitchin’ about it…!?”

For a moment it looked like Kino was going to keep arguing, but then Yukimaru tapped his arm and said something quietly to him, which made him stop, albeit reluctantly…

“Great! Alright then… So everyone, sit down already!”

They _did…_ though they hardly looked enthusiastic about it.

“Hey, don’t worry…” Mondo tapped his arm and muttered to him. “They’re always dicks about trying new stuff, but they’ll cheer up once you start, promise!”

Well… if Mondo said that’s how it was… Hopefully if he put enough enthusiasm into this book, it’d rub off on all of them as well!

Kiyotaka gave Mondo a small nod to show he’d heard, and then coughed and started reading…

At first it was just as he’d feared… they were being _quiet,_ but didn’t _look_ interested in what he had to say…

At least, until the first crude joke caused Mondo and a few of the other members of the gang to snicker, which made the others perk up…

From there, it was only a matter of time before they all started looking interested… even the boy who’d been adamant that he wasn’t interested started to laugh and pay attention as Kiyotaka continued reading! In fact, by the time Kiyotaka started to find himself stumbling over simple sentences, he looked to be the _most_ excited out of any of them… To the point that it was almost a shame to get to a good stopping point and admit…

“Ah… I’m afraid my throats getting tired!” Kiyotaka told them all, which caused most of them to groan… Except for _Kino_ , who flinched and leant back cautiously, as if he expected Kiyotaka to suddenly lunge out and attack him. “We’ll have to stop here, for tonight… But thank you all for listening and I hope you enjoyed it!”

The gang… actually didn’t respond as positively as he’d expected to. He’d _thought_ they’d been really enjoying themselves, but most of them just muttered that the book had been _‘okay’_ and they _‘guessed’_ they wouldn’t mind listening to the rest of it, just to find out what happened…

“Wait… so that’s it?” On the other hand, Kino seemed surprised at him. “You’re just gonna… stop and wait till some other time?”

“Err… well…” He hated to disappoint the boy, but…

“He’s been reading for _two hours_ straight! He deserves a fucking _break!”_ Mondo explained for him, although a lot more aggressively than it needed to be…

“Y-yeah, of course boss! I got that!” The other boy cowered, “I just thought he’d make one of _us_ do it! Like in class!”

So was _that_ why he’d looked so frightened? He’d been worried Kiyotaka would pick him and make him read out loud in front of everyone? He certainly looked relieved when Mondo reiterated that that _wasn’t_ the point, because he’d known it’d be easier for everyone to enjoy the book if _Kiyotaka_ read it, because he was _good_ at reading…

He couldn’t help but laugh as Mondo ruffled his hair when he said that, even _with_ his throat being tired… At least until he noticed Yukimaru glaring at him again…

It was only for a moment- the boy seemed to shake his head and turn away as soon as Kiyotaka noticed it- but he still couldn’t help feeling slightly guilty about how upsetting it must be for him to watch Mondo being affectionate towards his, regardless of it not really being _his_ fault Mondo had ended up liking him instead of Yukimaru…

But it was probably best to just let the other boy sort his feelings out by himself. And even if it turned out he needed help with that, Kiyotaka _certainly_ wasn’t the right person to bring it up!

The boy who’d over-reacted to the mere _possibility_ that he might have to read out loud, on the other hand… Kiyotaka knew full well that having to talk in front of a large group like this was always daunting, even when you’d done it before and everyone present were all your friends… but what on _Earth_ would cause him to get _that_ scared about it, that he wouldn’t even trust _Mondo_ not to make him do it? There must be _something_ bothering him, for him to get that angry so quickly.

Perhaps he didn’t like talking in general? He seemed to be one of the quieter members of the gang, not that that was really saying much. Maybe something about his speech embarrassed him…? Although Kiyotaka hadn’t noticed anything wrong with it, so perhaps it really _was_ just the prospect of public speaking itself that upset him…?

And if _that_ was what it was, then Kiyotaka could help by sharing the tips _he’d_ found to be most helpful for calming his nerves! And luckily for him, Kino was in the middle of heading away from the group _alone…_ this would be the perfect time to catch up to him and privately offer some advice!

“Mondo, do you mind if I go take a quick walk by myself?”

“Huh…?” It seemed like Mondo had been busy listening to a few of the other gang members talking about something… “Oh, yeah! Go ahead! You know where it’s safe to go, right!?”

“Of course…” He would have patted Mondo’s shoulder to reassure him, but Mondo would probably find that embarrassing right now, so he settled for nodding vigorously instead. “I won’t be going far…”

“’Alright, but… feel free to go rest up for the night, if you wanna…” Mondo told him, “…You might need it for the lesson, tomorrow.”

Oh, right… _that!_ He’d managed to forget taking that challenge on! But he wasn’t feeling _too_ tired at the moment, either… “I’ll let you know how I feel after I’ve stretched my legs!”

“’Kay… See ya, Taka!” Mondo waved him off as he headed off in the direction he’d seen Kino walk off in…

It turned out to be where the gang’s bikes were parked up, and he quickly spotted the boy knelt down next to one of them, adjusting something on the back wheel… That was probably the sort of thing Kiyotaka was going to have to learn how to do, wasn’t it…?

Well, if it was, Mondo would be sure to tell him about it! For now, he should focus on his original reason for coming here… “Err… Excuse me? Kino, wasn’t it…?” He tried to catch the boy’s attention.

“Ehh!?” He caught it a little _too_ well, as Kino responded by flinching and dropping the tool he’d been using. “Wh… What do _you_ want!?”

“I just wanted to speak to you about why you were so upset about the possibility of having to read to everyone, earlier…” Kiyotaka started to explain, before getting cut off.

“I wasn’t _upset!”_ The boy snapped, in the defensive tone that Kiyotaka was starting to get depressingly used to… “I just didn’t wanna _read!”_

“I’m pretty sure none of the _other_ bikers wanted to read, either!” Kiyotaka argued with him, “But _you_ were the only one who started an argument over it!”

“So I mouthed off a bit…” He tried to look like he didn’t care about this, but it was clearly upsetting him again. “What’s it to _you!?”_

“Well… I just thought, if you have an issue with speaking in front of large groups of people, I might be able to suggest some tips that will help you feel less nervous about it!”

“I ain’t _nervous!”_ Another defensive snap… “And I don’t need tips for speaking in front of people, either!”

“But, it’s _clearly_ bothering you that you _can’t!”_ Kiyotaka insisted, “And there’s no _shame_ in…”

“Fuck _you!_ I can _talk_ in front of people just _fine!”_ Oh good grief… he really wasn’t going to admit he had a problem, was…? “I just don’t wanna whole _bunch_ of ‘em stare at me while I take forever to read a fucking _sentence!”_

Wait… he took a long time to _read…!?_ “…So _that’s_ the problem!” It wasn’t the large group, it was his reading skill he had trouble with!

“It ain’t a _problem!”_ Kino yelled at him, “It ain’t like I’m some dumbass who can’t read at _all!_ Like… I can read roadsigns and textbooks when I gotta! It just takes me a while, so I don’t get ta read long shit like _books!”_

 _…Don’t GET to read books?_ “But… you’d _like_ to be able to read them, wouldn’t you?” Kiyotaka asked, firmly. “And don’t bother to lie about it! I saw how much you were enjoying that book tonight!”

“Ugh… It was alright.” …Kiyotaka wished he could tell if the lack of enthusiasm was because he _hadn’t_ been all that bothered, or if it was because he didn’t want to admit to actually _liking_ something that didn’t have two wheels and an engine… “And… _sure,_ it’d be _cool_ if I could read more fun stuff, or get someone _else_ to do it for me, but it’s not like I’m _upset_ about it!”

“I see…” Kiyotaka pretended to agree, even though he suspected the boy was very much upset about it… “But perhaps you might like to try reading some comic books, so you don’t have to read as many long descriptions? And there are recordings available for a lot of books these days!”

“Well, _yeah_ … I’ve seen those…” Kino shrugged, “Ain’t got the money for ‘em, though…”

“Ah… Of _course_ …” Kiyotaka had forgot how lucky he was to have the library at Hope’s Peak… but thinking of _that…_ “Does your library not have _any_ of them?”

“The _library?”_ Kino asked sceptically, “I dunno. I ain’t ever been…”

“Well… _most_ of them have at least _some_ comics, these days!” Even the library back in his home town had a few old issues of the more popular series… “And some of the more modern ones have started renting audiobooks to! I’m sure you’ll find _something_ enjoyable, there!”

“What!?” The boy stared at him as if he was mad… “I ain’t going to a library!”

 _What!?_ “But… you just said you’d like…”

 _“Yeah…_ But that don’t mean I’m gonna go to a _library!”_ Kino cut him off, getting defensive again… “Tough guys like _us_ don’t do shit like that!”

Oh for goodness sake! Even aside from the fact that _Daiya_ had clearly gone at some point, that was a ridiculous reason not to take the obvious solution to his problem… but, the boy was refusing to so much as admit that he _had_ a problem, so Kiyotaka could hardly point that out! If only there was some way to convince him that going wouldn’t immediately ruin his ‘manly’ image in the eyes of everyone else he knew…

Hmm… Perhaps if he could tell everyone he’d not gone for his _own_ sake, but for someone _else’s…?_ “…What if you went to get some books for _me?”_ Kino looked down at him cautiously, “I wasn’t able to bring many on the helicopter, so I’m already running low on things to read, and Mondo _did_ say you’d all be willing to go get anything I needed from town…”

“Books ain’t really a thing you _need…” Curses…_ He still looked unlikely to do it! “But… I need to go out and check how this wheel’s handling, so I guess I can get you your nerdy stuff while I’m out, since you’re a good friend of the boss’…”

“Ah…” So, he _was_ going to do it! _Yes!_ He was finally starting to make some headway with this lot! “Thank you! I appreciate that a lot!”

“Whatever...” Kino rolled his eyes at him, “So, whaddaya want, then…?”

It didn’t take long for Kiyotaka to tell him what kind of books he’d want to study, and then he finished sorting out the wheel he’d been working on and kicked the bike off and away…

Well! That was a good conversation! He was certainly feeling up to going back to Mondo and spending some time with him and his friends before having to go to sleep tonight! He could go back right now…!

…Or he _thought_ he could, until he turned to leave and found himself face-to-face with Yukimaru, who was snarling at him. “What’re _you_ doing here!? What the _hell_ did you _do!?”_

“Err…” He could understand why the boy didn’t _like_ him, but this just seemed over the top! “I didn’t do _anything!_ I was just talking with Kino…”

“About _what!?”_ The boy snapped, but Kiyotaka wasn’t sure he should actually _answer,_ given it was someone _else’s_ problem… “…Goddammit… you brought up him not being able to _read,_ didn’t you!?”

Well, if he already knew… “Yes. I…”

“For _fucks sake!_ What the _hell_ is your _problem!?”_ The boy seemed to explode… “How the fuck does Mondo put _up_ with you, being an ass and pointing out every tiny fucking _problem_ people have!? No one’s fucking _perfect,_ so why’s it _matter_ if his reading’s _shit!?_ Or Mitsukuni doesn’t know the rules to that game he collects cards for!? Or Hasimoto doesn’t follow a recipe when he cooks!? Why can’t you just _shut the fuck up_ and let people ignore their damn _problems!?”_

“Because if they _ignore_ their problems, they’ll never _solve_ them!” Kiyotaka snapped back at him, without even thinking about whether he should or not… “And, yes, I’ll admit that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they didn’t, and perhaps I need to learn not to be so blunt about it, but if I have suggestions as to how people can improve themselves, why _shouldn’t_ I give them!?”

“’Cause we don’t _need_ improving!” Yukimaru yelled back, “We’re good enough as we _are!_ So we don’t need assholes like our parents, or teachers, or _you_ bitching at us to be _better_ at fucking _everything_ all the damn time!”

“I… I didn’t mean to suggest anyone needs to get better at _everything!”_ Was that really how he was coming across!? “Just the things they _want_ to be better at! Things they _enjoy!_ ”

“ _Tch_ … That’d be _fine,_ if you could manage to do it without making ‘em feel like shit about it instead!” Yukimaru growled, “But _newsflash, asshole!_ You _can’t!_ So quit poking at everyone’s weaknesses and leave ‘em the fuck _alone,_ alright!?”

“Ah… _but…!”_ He didn’t even get a chance to think of a way to respond to that, before Yukimaru angrily turned and stalked away from him…

…Had he really done nothing but make everyone feel bad about themselves? He hadn’t _meant_ to… he’d just been giving advice! And he’d been complimentary about it, beforehand! It’s not like he’d just insisted they were each _bad_ at their respective hobbies! He’d honestly been trying to help! And in Kino’s case, it seemed like he _had_ helped!

But Yukimaru was saying that _couldn’t_ help them… that they were so sensitive to criticism that even giving it _constructively_ was enough to hurt them… Could that really be true!? Would it be better if he gave up trying to talk to them about their other interests, unless he could be sure only to say positive things about them, and not make suggestions of any kind? But that would be ridiculous, just letting them insist nothing was wrong when they were clearly upset by things! That’d only make them even _worse_ at dealing with criticism, and they couldn’t avoid it _forever!_

…Was that what Yukimaru had been doing this whole time? And not just him… Mondo and probably Daiya beforehand had done the exact same thing, hadn’t they? No wonder they’d all acted so defensive whenever he so much as _suggested_ things they could improve… None of them had any idea how to respond to it!

Well… He was probably going to get a _lot_ of criticisms from them tomorrow, wasn’t he? He’d just have to make sure he gave them a good example of how to respond!

* * *

(Thursday September 27th 2012)

…Did something happen between Taka and Michi last night?

Sure, they hadn’t exactly beenm best pals before now, and thinking back on it, Michi had looked pretty put out when Mondo had decided to go back to the tent at the same time as Taka so they could spend some time kissing again before going to sleep. But as far as he knew there was no reason for _either_ of ‘em to be _this_ pissed off right now! Let alone _glaring_ at other each time Mondo wasn’t looking…

“So, uhh… Good breakfast this morning, eh?” Not a _great_ conversation topic, but he was getting kinda desperate to lighten the mood, here. It felt like sitting in a freezer, and not just ‘cause winter was approaching…

“Yeah.” Michi answered curtly, staring at Taka as if daring him to disagree. “It _is.”_

“Hmm… Yes, it is.” Taka agreed, considering the food carefully, “Though Tuesday’s was tastier, I think.”

He did have a point there, even though Hasi had ended up on cooking duty again this morning. Though after the curry fiasco, Mondo couldn’t blame the guy for not wanting to experiment with stuff today…

 _“So!?”_ Michi snapped at him before Mondo could say anything. “You can’t expect everything to be _perfect_ all the time! Shit happens, sometimes!”

“Yes, of course it does!” Taka tried to mollify him, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t compare how well different things end up working out! That’s how you learn to improve!”

“But _you_ ain’t the one ‘learning’, here!” Michi spat at him, “You’re just bitchin’ about someone _else_ again!”

“I’m not _complaining!_ I was just answering Mondo’s question!” Taka tried to defend himself, but Michi just started rolling his eyes at the guy. “It’s not good to be so _defensive_ about everything, you know!”

 _What the hell!?_ Now even _Taka_ was making personal remarks!?

 _“Fuck_ _you!_ I…”

“Guys! That’s _enough!_ Both of you!” Mondo put his hands up between them. “Michi- he ain’t _trying_ to be a dick, he just likes helping people, even if they might not be _asking_ for help! And Taka, whether you’re right or not, this ain’t your place to say shit like that!”

“Ah… I… suppose I did overstep the line, there…” Taka _barely_ agreed with him.

“Whatever… I’ve gotta go to school anyway…” On the other hand, Michi didn’t even do _that_ much, just decided to get up and quit arguing for now.

“Aww, _hell…”_ Mondo let out a sigh as the guy stormed off. “Taka, what the _fuck_ happened between you two last night!?”

“Ah…” Taka cringed with guilt. So something _had_ happened! “Well…”

“Uhh, hey, Ishimaru!” Taka was cut off by Kino suddenly running up to them and shoving a bag at him. “Sorry, gotta run! But here are those things you wanted!”

“Oh! Wonderful! Thank you!” Taka shouted some thanks at him as he ran off after Michi, then started looking through the bag…

 _“Books?”_ Urgh… that probably wasn’t the best thing to ask _Kino_ to get. The guy got a bit sensitive about reading stuff, at times. Although he hadn’t looked that upset about it just now…

“Yes! From the library!” Taka nodded. “Err… it’s actually part of why Yukimaru’s upset with me this morning…”

“Yeah, ‘cause you asked a guy who _can’t read_ to go to the _library_ …” Mondo sighed. It wasn’t like Taka should have known, but…

“No! He said he _can_ read, he’s just slow at it!” Taka snapped, “So I suggested he looking into things like comics or audiobooks at at the library! And because he didn’t want to be _seen_ going to the library I asked him to pick _me_ up some books, so he’d have an excuse to…”

“Huh… that’s… not a bad idea.” Mondo admitted, “So then why’s Michi pissed with you?”

“Well, I don’t think he heard us actually talking. He just saw Kino drive off away from me, and accused me of making the gang feel bad about themselves by ‘poking at their weaknesses’ and told me to leave everyone alone…”

 _What!?_ He’d actually _said_ that to Taka!? Well that explained why he’d gone and called him _defensive,_ but… “Why the _hell_ didn’t you tell me about this!?”

“Well, last night, it didn’t seem like it was too much of an issue. Just him blowing off some steam and us butting heads a little over his points! And I already figured out how to deal with it going forward!” Taka tried to insist, though he sounded kinda _delusional_ if he thought this was all just going to blow over… “So… I thought it’d be… _nicer_ not to tell you that we’re not exactly getting on as well as you’ve been _hoping_ we would. Especially when you were in such a _good mood_ last night!”

So, Taka probably _woulda_ told him about it if it’d been anyone other than _Michi… Or_ if Mondo had given him a chance to actually _talk_ in private before grabbing him round the waist last night, if the pink tint on Taka’s cheeks was any indication…

“Alright… I get it…” Mondo sighed, “But I coulda told you that he takes looking after the gang and dealing with threats to ‘em more seriously than you’re expecting…”

“’Dealing with _threats?’”_ Taka cocked his head at him, “Are you saying he thinks _I’m_ a threat!?”

“Well… From his point of view, you’ve already changed _me…_ Or how I _act,_ at least. And not in a way he _likes._ ” Mondo pointed out. “And now you’ve hardly been here for a few _days_ and you’re already trying to do the same with everyone else, and pissing people off while you’re at it.”

“But… Most of the time I wasn’t even _trying_ to help, or change anything!” Taka argued, “I was just trying to talk to them about something I’d noticed they _liked!_ That’s just normal behaviour!”

“I _know,_ but the gang _ain’t_ normal!” Mondo admitted, “So just by coming in and acting normally, you’re throwing things off…”

“Well, maybe some of those things could _do_ with being ‘thrown off’!” Taka snapped back at him, “You’d all be a lot healthier for it!”

 _“_ Yeah, I _know._ Hell, I’m planning to try and do some of it myself!” Taka looked surprised as Mondo pointed out the obvious. “But Michi… Michi doesn’t see it that way. He always thought everything about the gang was great, and it wasn’t until I left and met _you_ that he even started to notice the problems with it…”

“So… he thinks I’ve _caused_ the problems your gang has?” Taka frowned.

“Well… _some_ of ‘em. Maybe.” Mondo considered it, “Or at least, it easy for him to think that, maybe if I hadn’t left, things would have stayed the same as they were before…”

“But… things _can’t_ just always stay the same!” Taka insisted, “That’s not how life _works!_ Everything will change eventually…”

“’The best we can do is work towards changing it for the _better!’”_ Mondo finished Taka’s sentence alongside him, causing him to stop and pout at him… “Taka I _know_ all this! I ain’t _arguing_ with you, I’m just trying to explain why _Michi_ thinks you’re a problem!”

“Oh…” Taka deflated a bit at that. “But… if he’s threatened just by me acting _normally,_ what am I supposed to do? Start trying to act like all of _you?”_

“No! You ain’t gotta change your whole personality!” Mondo laughed, “But… maybe try and… slow it down a little? Try to hang out and help people for some time, so they get used to you a bit more, before trying to get ask about their hobbies. And give Michi some time to notice that you’ve not actually pissed off Kino by helping him before you try coming up with ways to help anyone else, alright?”

“Hmm… I’ll try. And I should probably start by helping Hasimoto wash up those pans!” Taka frowned as he noticed the guy all by himself with a huge stack of stuff. “Though I don’t know what exactly I’ll have to talk about if I can’t discuss _any_ non-bike related hobby!”

“Ah… Yeah, sorry about that.” It probably _would_ be pretty awkward for the guy…

“But on the bright side, after tonight, maybe I’ll be about to talk about bikes as well!” Taka grinned, as he stood up and started marching over to the washing trough…

So, Taka was still going to go ahead with that? He still wasn’t sure what the hell had made Taka even _suggest_ going along with it… Still, maybe _him_ being willing to be more like the gang would make Michi less freaked out over the idea of the gang becoming more like _him…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I feel like maybe it's a bit slow going as it's introducing a lot of plot threads and not resolving many of them. Also sorry it's taken so long to write! I'd lost some of my motivation to write, partly because I wasn't 100% happy with some of the ideas I'd had for this part of the fic (which I've now changed) and partly because work has neen wearing me out a lot recently.  
> But hopefully now I have resolved the plot issues, and I'm working at home so might have a little more time and energy for non-work things, I'm hoping it won't take anywhere near as long to write the next part of this!


	4. Compassionate Leave part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when I said there hopefully wouldn't be anymore chapters that were as long as the 59000 word one in One Personal Favour? 
> 
> Weeeeelll... This chapter is 61100 words long. So... technically it's not AS long, it's longer? Hahahah...
> 
> Anyway, not much to say about the chapter itself aside from warnings that there is a vague mention of bestiality in the section where pokemon fanficiton is being discussed, and the epilogue is a bit of a downer ending.

(Thursday September 27th 2012)

“Okay, so now you gotta rev the engine… Pull the clutch… the lever in your left hand…”

“Is _that_ going to make it move…?”

“No… not yet… Then change to first gear with your left foot…”

“Is _that…”_

 _“No…_ It ain’t gonna move yet! Just… once it’s in first, then start release the clutch… _left hand…_ release that till it starts biting…”

“Until it _WHAT!?”_

“Uhh… until the bike starts juddering and trying to move forward.”

“Ah! _That’s_ when it moves!”

“No… not quite… Just… get to the point where it bi… _judders_ and I’ll tell you what to do next.”

“O…okay! Is _this_ it?”

“Yeah, like that! Now, _slowly_ turn the throttle… the circle bar on your right side, and the bike’ll start moving…”

“Alright! Here we go…!” _*Vrrrmmmm… THNK!*_ “Ah! It… it switched off again?”

“Yeah… you stalled the engine again. Turn the bike off and we’ll try it again…”

Takemichi couldn’t believe Mondo had let this idiot even _sit_ on his bike, let alone put the key in, turn it on and start revving it up! He didn’t let anyone else in the gang even _touch_ that thing, not even _him,_ and he’d always said it was ‘cause he didn’t trust anyone else not to screw up and damage it! But here he was, letting this fucking _dumbass_ mess around with the clutch and keep stalling the engine over and over ‘cause he either couldn’t find the damn bite point if it punched him in the face or wimped out on turning the throttle when he _did!_

It’d been funny to watch at first, but by now it was just pissing him off to see Mondo keep on letting him try over and over, even though it was probably doing more damage to the engine than _anything_ anyone in the gang could ever have done to it!

Not to mention, he’d insisted on asking so many questions while Mondo was talking him through the controls for the bike, that most of the gang were now starting to get bored of just watching him sit there doing nothing but turning it on and off, and a bunch of ‘em had already decided to just head off and ride by themselves…”

“Alright…” And the worst part of it was, Ishimaru wasn’t even _embarrassed_ about how badly he’d been fucking up all evening! He just kept trying again and again with barely a frown on his face! “I just… don’t understand what I’m doing wrong…”

“Well _that_ time you didn’t give it enough throttle before releasing the clutch all the way!” Takemichi tried to let off some steam by muttering the answer to the dumbass’ question…

“I beg your pardon?” … _Fuck._ Had he really been that loud!? “What did you just say?”

“He said you didn’t give it enough throttle!” Umeki yelled, killing any chance of him pretending he’d just been talking to someone else…

“Oh! I see, thank you!” Huh? Was that all he was gonna say? He didn’t seem pissed off at all… “I’ll keep that in mind!”

…And he wasn’t kidding about that last part! The next time he got the bike to its biting point, he twisted the throttle a lot harder… hard enough that the bike jumped forward and made him panic and drop the clutch completely as he yanked on the brakes and barely caught his footing well enough to keep the bike upright.

“Ahh… Ahah…” Ishimaru laughed weakly once he’d turned everything off again, “Let me guess…”

“TOO MUCH THROTTLE!” Several guys, lead by Mitsukuni, all yelled together.

“Yeah, that… that’s why I said do the throttle _slowly…”_ Takemichi could just about hear Mondo telling him, as the gang all started laughing…

 _“Noted…”_ Ishimaru nodded weakly, before turning back to the gang. “Thank you for the advice!”

 _That_ was the cue for the gang to yell at him every time he made a mistake… And he made a lot of mistakes! The _next_ two times he went back to ‘NOT ENOUGH THROTTLE!’ _,_ then after that it was ‘THROTTLE TOO EARLY!’ and ‘THROTTLE TOO LATE!’ then another ‘TOO MUCH THROTTLE!’ for good measure before he _finally_ managed to actually kickstart the bike and move it forward smoothly for a couple of yards, before he panicked and hit the brakes…

_“EEEEYYYYYY!”_

“Ah…! I did it!” Ishimaru looked more surprised than anyone about it. “Is… is it _supposed_ to go that fast, though?”

“Uhh… Ya _could_ drive it slower, but it’d be hard to balance if ya did…” Mondo explained, “That looked like a pretty good speed for your first few rides, to me.”

“Alright, so… Now what?” Ishimaru asked, “Should I keep practising starting off until I get the hang of it?”

 _Urggh…_ That would mean even _more_ standing around, and from the way the gang groaned at his suggestion, they’d had enough of that…

“Uhh… You’ll get used to that once you start riding more!” Luckily, Mondo picked up on the gang’s mood. “There’s a clearing not far from here that’s a big oval. You can follow us straight there and then we’ll start you on some easy turns.”

“Errg… O-okay! If you think I’m ready!” Ishimaru agreed… out loud, anyway. He sure didn’t _look_ like he thought he was ready!

“Great! You start the bike, and head off down that path!” Mondo pointed him down a wide flat path into the forest. “Once you get going Michi and I will overtake you and you can follow us the rest of the way there, alright?”

“A-all right…” Ishimaru gulped as Mondo headed away from him and left him to deal with the bike _all by himself..._

“So, I’m carrying you, then?” Woulda been nice to be _asked…_

“Huh? Aww, c’mon! You know I don’t trust anyone else to carry me!” Mondo laughed.

“Well, you started trusting _him_ with your bike, so I thought maybe that’d changed to!” He pointed out, just as the idiot stalled and half the gang yelled ‘THROTTLE TOO LATE!’ at him…

“Wha…!?” Mondo gaped at him for a moment. “Michi, that’s different! I know I used to be an ass about it, but I can _replace_ the bike! I can’t replace _myself,_ can I? And besides, it’s not like I could ask anyone _else_ to let him on _their_ bike!”

 _Urgghh…_ He had a point there… and he could hardly turn around and say that maybe he shouldn’t have let Ishimaru on _any_ of the bikes when it’d been _his_ dumb comment that had made the guy wanna go on ‘em in the first place…!

“Now, c’mon! Let’s get your bike, else even _he_ might get ahead of us, eh?” Mondo joked, “And I’ll tell you what… If it’s bothering ya _that_ much, you can ride my bike, sometime…! But _just_ you, okay?”

 _“That’s not the point!”_ Takemichi snapped at him, “I just…”

…What _was_ pissing him off about this? Mondo suddenly not giving such a shit about his bike? Mondo assuming he’d help without being asked? Mondo letting his boyfriend do shit he’d never let _him_ do? All of it?

…Whatever it was, he was pretty sure he wasn’t gonna be able to back himself up if he tried to argue with Mondo about it.

“Just… Forget it! Let’s get going.” He walked off towards his bike, noticing the sound of Mondo’s boots as he rushed to follow. “…Else your ‘besty’s’ gonna end up going _straight_ down that big hill over that way…”

“What…? Oh shit! I forgot that was there!” Mondo swore sheepishly, “Still, I’m sure Taka would stop _well_ before he got there, if we weren’t ahead of him!”

* * *

Okay! He was riding Mondo’s bike! Admittedly he was riding it a bit faster than he’d have liked, because apparently you _had_ to ride it at least this fast or it became harder to balance the thing, and it had taken him another few tries to start the thing up again before Yukimaru was able to get going and overtake him, but he _was_ riding it! And it was staying upright! And he knew how to stop the thing quickly in an emergency! That was _the_ most important thing! But for now, all he had to do was ride in a straight line! And follow Mondo to this track where he was going to get taught how to turn this thing! This was all going okay and he was being careful! And wearing all his safety gear! No need to worry about the number of times his father had called these things ‘two-wheeled death-traps’ whatsoever!

Though it really _would_ have been nice if he’d been able to start off on one of the _smaller_ bikes here… Or at least been able to drive Mondo’s one a bit slower. Even though a quick glance at the speedometer showed he was only doing about 15 miles an hour, it _still_ felt a lot fast than it _should_ do! Was it possible that Mondo had adjusted it to read lower speeds than it was going at some point, so he’d have an excuse if he was ever caught speeding…? Was there any way for him to tell?

Wait… What was he _doing!?_ He needed to keep his eyes up on the road ahead of him! It was a good thing the path ahead of him was empty…

Hold on. That shouldn’t be the case! Where had Mondo gone!? He’d been just ahead of him a few seconds ago, riding on the back of Yukimaru’s bike! But now the path ahead was completely clear! They couldn’t have gone that far ahead that quickly, could he? Even _if_ Yukimaru had suddenly decided to try and leave him behind…

Maybe they’d turned off the path while he wasn’t looking? It was possible that it hadn’t occurred to Mondo that he’d have trouble following them if they turned, and they _had_ been approaching a turning when Kiyotaka glanced down at the bike.

Either way, he’d better stop the bike… _Especially_ as it now looked like he was rapidly approaching a _hill!_

Kiyotaka quickly (probably a bit _too_ quickly…) squeezed the brake and barely managed to wait until until the bike slowed down enough before he put his foot out and cut the power, breathing a sigh of relief that he’d managed to do it all correctly before the hill had started sloping downwards.

He’d _probably_ missed them turning, right? Mondo wouldn’t have expected him to suddenly deal with going downhill when he wasn’t even comfortable going at low speeds on flat straight areas yet! Although perhaps he’d best get off the bike and have a quick look down there, just in case. He’d have to get off the thing to drag it round to face the right direction anyway…

First things first, put up the kickstand, then both feet on the floor and lift his left leg up and over the bike… there! Now he could walk forward and check how steep this hill really was…

 _Very_ steep, as it turned out! Enough to make his stomach lurch slightly just looking over the thing, and the path down it had several twists, and various large rocks and trees next to it that could certainly do a lot of damage if he’d careened into them at speed… Not to mention there was no sign of Yukimaru’s bike down there at all! He’d _definitely_ ended up going the wrong way!

Well, at least he’d stopped before getting into trouble! It shouldn’t be too hard to get back to where he was meant to go, and he could even hear some motorbikes approaching from behind him, meaning Mondo must have already realised he’d got lost and come back to find him…!

“Ah! Hello!” Kiyotaka turned and started waving for a moment, before suddenly realising that of the four bikes that were slowing to a stop at the sight of Mondo’s bike, none of them were the one Mondo and Yukimaru were riding… “Err…”

“Huh? What are _you_ doing here?” One of the group asked him, confirming his suspicions that he’d ended up on the wrong path. “Are you gonna try going down the hill!?”

“No! No of course not!” Kiyotaka assured them, “I know I can’t _possibly…”_

“Ahh, don’t worry! It’s not _that_ hard!” One the group interrupted him. “Go on, do it!”

“Yeah! Do it! _Doo it!_ _Dooo it!”_ To Kiyotaka’s shock, he now had _several_ of Mondo’s gang all trying to jeer him into _probably crashing Mondo’s bike!_

“What!? _NO!_ This is my _first time_ riding this thing! It’s not even _mine!”_ Kiyotaka reminded them all.

“Then why’d you drive it to the top of the hill, if you weren’t gonna go down it?” One of them asked him, smugly.

“Because I missed a turn!” Kiyotaka gave them the obvious answer.

“Heh… Sounds like you got up here and wimped out!”

“No, that’s really not…” Kiyotaka tried to explain once more…

“Heh… Can you believe the boss’s best friend is a coward…?”

“I’m telling you, Mondo wouldn’t want me to…” Kiyoyaka didn’t know why he was bothering, they clearly weren’t listening…

“Hehe… yeah, I thought he liked _dogs_ more than _chickens!_ _Bwark, bwarkbwarkbwark…”_

 _“That’s_ _enough!_ I don’t care how many insults and animal noises you throw! I am _NOT_ skilled enough to make it down that hill! Especially not without damaging _Mondo’s_ bike!” He finally gave up and snapped at them all. “The only way you’d get me down that hill is if you _threw_ me down it!”

That seemed to make them turn quiet as he headed back over to the motorbike, only for them to start muttering amongst themselves as he struggled to heave it back round to the direction he was _supposed_ to have been going in. But there was no point trying to address them now. He needed to focus on how he was supposed to get the bike _moving_ again… Now where was that start button again?

“Uhh, hey Ishimaru? You’re right.” Kiyotaka was surprised to hear one of the boys suddenly being so reasonable. “How about you step away from the bike and we’ll help you walk it round to where Mondo is?”

“Ah… that would be wonderful! Thank you!” Maybe he’d misjudged this lot. They probably wouldn’t _really_ have let him try to careen down the hill on a bike he could barely control… “He said they were going to a place with an oval-shaped…”

 _“Now!”_ Kiyotaka barely heard someone whisper a single word, before suddenly the whole group of boys rushed towards him and grabbed him by the arms…

“Wh-what are you _doing!?”_ He struggled to break free as they all laughed, and two of them ducked down and lifted his legs up off the ground, allowing the four of them to carry him away from the bike. “Where are you _taking_ me!?”

“Where’d you _think!?”_ One of them snorted as they stopped in place, probably somewhere near the top of the hill. “Now, let’s swing him and let go on _three… One…”_

It was as Kiyotaka felt his whole body lurch to the side for the first time that he realised what they were planning… “Wait… _stop!”_

 _“Two…”_ His protests didn’t stop the group from continuing to swing him from side-to-side, picking up speed as they went. And neither did his attempts to wriggle free of them…

“I didn’t mean you needed to…!”

 _“Three!”_ After one final swing, Kiyotaka felt himself flying through the air as all the boys let go of him...

For about a second, anyway. Then the left side of his body hit the ground so fast he didn’t have any chance to stop himself from rolling along it… or _down_ it, as the boys had indeed managed to throw him _down_ the hill, and now the whole world was spinning around him, with no way to stop it until he felt himself slow down a little, and finally stopped moving when he banged into something _else…_

“Ah…” The world still felt like it was spinning while he caught his breath, even though he could feel the ground was flat and solid underneath him. “Haa…” He must have _rolled_ the entire way down that hill! “Ah… haa…” He could have been seriously hurt! “Haa… haa…”

_But he was FINE…_

“Ha… ha… _Ahahahah!”_ Of all the things to do, Kiyotaka started _laughing…_ And he couldn’t _stop!_ No matter how hard he tried! _“AHAHAHA!”_

This was ridiculous! All he’d done was roll down a hill quickly, but here was laughing away like an idiot! Was this why little children liked to roll down hills? Or people paid so much for funfair rides?

…Or everyone here liked riding at high speeds on their motorcycles? Hmm. Maybe he should let Mondo drive him around at top speed, sometime. Somewhere _safe,_ obviously, but…

But first, he had to get Mondo’s bike _back_ to Mondo. Which meant he had to make his way back _up_ this hill… At least his dizziness had cleared up a little. And from down _here,_ the hill didn’t look _too_ steep to climb. Although it would probably be a bad idea to walk up the road in case anyone else came down at high speed. He should head off to the side and walk through the trees, to be safe…

It probably would have been a pleasant hike, if he wasn’t having to stop and wait for everything around him to quit lurching around every so often! But as it was, it felt like he’d taken about twice as long to climb back up as he would have expected it to, and judging from the snippets of conversation he started catching as he approached the top, the group who’d thrown him down in the first place had the same thought…

“He shoulda started coming up by _now,_ right?”

“I dunno… he rolled down there pretty fast… Maybe he’s puking up down there?”

“Or what if he hit his head on a rock and…”

_“Don’t start saying shit like that!”_

…The four of them were all stood in a group at the cusp of the hill, peering down it so intently that they didn’t seem to have noticed him stumbling back up through the trees to their side. He’d probably even be able to sneak up right behind them without them noticing…

Hah! Now _there_ was a thought! There probably wouldn’t be anything stopping him from being able to rush up behind them and shove _them_ down the hill! They were all wearing their safety gear, after all. It probably wouldn’t hurt them that much if he decided he wanted to get some petty revenge…

“Yeah, but… what if he _did…!?”_

“I’m telling you, he _didn’t_ alright! We were just messing around, we ain’t _killed_ him!”

Of course, he _wouldn’t_ do that, because…

Because…

 _…Oh what the heck!_ They’d started it! And it was probably _exactly_ the sort of thing they did to _each other_ all the time!

“Well then, were the fuck _is_ he!?” One of the boys yelled, just as Kiyotaka made up his mind and ran out of the trees behind them all…

 _“RIGHT HERE!”_ He yelled at them as he ran at the two closest boys and shoved them hard in the back, causing them to fall forward into the other two, who lost their balance and fell to the ground… _“Ahahahaha!”_

Kiyotaka laughed triumphantly as the group tumbled down a short distance… not nearly as far down as _he’d_ gone, but far enough that they got covered with a fair layer of dust and dirt before they all managed to grind themselves to a halt…

 _“Ahahah! How’d you all like THAT!”_ Kiyotaka carried on laughing at them as they sat up and looked up at him. That’d teach them to gang up on him!

“What the hell!?”, “Is that _HIM!?”,_ “How’d he get behind us?” The group reacted with confusion as they realised who it was stood laughing at them… “Who cares!? Let’s _get_ the prick!”

 _“Hahaha… huuuh!?”_ Kiyotaka’s laughter froze in his throat as he realised that he’d just gone and aggravated a group who had already demonstrated that they were capable of picking him up off the ground and throwing him down the hill, at the very least, and who were all quickly standing up and getting ready to run towards him…

He turned and _ran,_ as fast as he could… For the first few steps, until the world around him suddenly felt like it was lurching sideways, and he stumbled to the floor…

“Hah! Got you now!” …By the time Kiyotaka managed to stand back up, the group had already caught up to him, and he barely made it another couple of steps before one of them managed to catch onto the shoulder of his leathers and yank him backwards into the grasp of the others… “Now what’ll we do with him!?”

“He got _us_ dirty!” Kiyotaka felt his helmet being pulled off of him. “Let’s do the same to him!”

 _“Yeeeeahhh!”_ One of the group disappeared from Kiyotaka’s view for a moment, then reappeared with a clump of dirt in his hand…

 _“Wait!”_ Kiyotaka fruitlessly tried to struggle free, or at least get his hair out of the path of the boy’s hand. _“You_ were the ones who…!”

 ** _“What the HELL are you lot doing!?”_** The whole group, even Kiyotaka, fell frozen into silence at the sudden roar of Mondo’s voice. **_“Don’t just fuckin’ STAND there, ANSWER ME! And it better be a fucking GOOD answer, or I’ll…”_**

“He pushed us down the hill!” One of the boys cut in, as they all let go of Kiyotaka and stepped away from him, acting as if _Kiyotaka_ had started it and they’d not been doing anything wrong whatsoever!

“I only did _that_ because _you_ lot _threw_ me down it first!” Kiyotaka pointed out.

 _“WHAT!?”_ The boys flinched at Mondo’s voice again, not that it stopped them from trying to argue…

“But… you _said_ we could do that!”

“I said I’d sooner be thrown down there than try to _ride_ down there on the bike, like you were telling me to!” Kiyotaka corrected them, “You lot know damn well I didn’t mean I _wanted_ to be…”

“Hold on! Are you telling me that these idiots were trying to get you to drive down _that_ hill on your _first lesson!?”_ Mondo interrupted, glaring at the boys in question… “ON _MY_ BIKE!?”

“Well…”

“OhshitRUUUN!” Kiyotaka barely got a word out before the boys suddenly scattered off into the forest.

“You dumbasses are lucky you just got shoved down a hill, ‘cause if it’d been up to me I’d have beaten your asses so hard you wouldn’t be able to _stand_ for a _week!”_ Mondo yelled after them all, before scowling and turning back to him. “You alright, Taka?”

“I’m fine… just a bit dizzy from rolling down the hill.” Kiyotaka admitted, also trying to ignore the aching throb that was starting in his left arm. “Though I’m not sure it’ll be safe to try driving the bike myself again, tonight…”

“Yeah, I guess that’ll do for today, huh?” Mondo looked a little relieved that he’d admitted it. “I’ll drive you back to the track and you can watch me kick Michi’s ass in some races, if ya want?”

Motorbike races weren’t exactly his first choice in entertainment, but Mondo looked excited to show off and it would be an excuse to sit still and rest… “Yes, that sounds like a good idea, thank you!”

“Great! Let’s go!” Mondo enthusiastically clapped an arm around his shoulder, and Kiyotaka flinched at the sudden pain that shot through his it. “Ah… shit! Is that…?”

“It’s just a little sore from when I hit the ground, that’s all.” Kiyotaka tried to brush off Mondo’s concern. “I’m sure it’ll be fine tomorrow!”

“You sure…?”

“I’m _sure!”_ Kiyotaka insisted, even though he suspecting that he might need more than _one_ night’s sleep before this eased up… “Now do you me to watch you race or not?”

“Alright, if ya say so…” Mondo started heading them towards the bikes, even though he still looked a little worried about him, which was when Kiyotaka turned and noticed Yukimaru was stood staring at him with an odd look on his face…

“Is… something the matter?” Kiyotaka asked him cautiously, as it suddenly occurred to him that he still hadn’t apologised for the misunderstanding about the pokémon cards…

“…Did you _really_ shove those four down the hill?” Yukimaru asked him.

“Err…” _Shoot!_ It hadn’t occurred to him that his moment of playful revenge might make him look like more of a threat in Yukimaru’s eyes… “Well, they’d already done it to _me,_ and they were wearing their protective gear, so…”

“I don’t give a shit about that!” Yukimaru rolled his eyes at him, “I just don’t get _how_ you managed to take on all four of ‘em!”

“Oh! I didn’t! I’d walked back up the hill through the trees on the side of the road, but they were looking for me to come up the middle, so I thought it’d be funny to sneak up behind them and get revenge for them throwing me down there!” Kiyotaka explained, although it sounded ridiculous now he put it like that… “Err… I guess I must have been a bit out of it from the rolling…”

“Hah! C’mon Taka, you ain’t gotta pretend like you didn’t just decide to horse around a bit!” Mondo laughed at him, “I bet it was fucking hilarious!”

“Hmm… well…” He couldn’t help but smirk at the memory.

“Not bad for a dork like you, I guess…” He just about heard Yukimaru mutter. Honestly, the man could do with speaking up a bit more! That was the _second_ time tonight Kiyotaka had almost missed hearing what he said!

And thinking of that! “Oh! By the way, Yukimaru! I forgot to say it before, but thank you for your advice, earlier!”

“Huh?” Yukimaru looked confused, “What advice are you talking about?”

“Err… About the throttle…?” Kiyotaka pointed out, what other advice had he given him… unless he was thinking about his ‘advice’ to leave the Diamonds alone…

“You’re thanking me for _that!?”_ Unfortunately, it just seemed to make him even _more_ confused _._

“Of course! If you all hadn’t been pointing out what I was doing wrong each time, I’d have probably taken even longer to get the bike moving!” He tried explaining.

“I _guess_ …?” Yukimaru agreed, but sounded like he still didn’t understand why Kiyotaka had thanked him, and Kiyotaka wasn’t sure how else he was supposed to explain _that._

“Uhh… _Cool!_ So, let’s get going, already!” Mondo interrupted the awkward silence and started pushing him towards the bike, turning to smirk at Yukimaru for a moment… “Unless _someone’s_ worried about me making him look like a chump…?”

“Hah! When you’ve not driven round here in months!?” Yukimaru turned his attention away from Kiyotaka and started getting back on his own bike. _“You’re_ the one who oughta be worried!”

“Haha… Guess we’ll see in a few minutes, eh…?” Mondo chuckled as he got on his own bike, and turned to signal that he was ready for Kiyotaka to sit behind him.

Hmm… The pair of them seemed to be in a good mood! And he’d managed to have a… slightly more civil conversation with Yukimaru than he had before. Maybe this was the start of things getting better…?

* * *

This was it… deciding race between him and Mondo…

Not that he was likely to win it. The only reason it had even come down to this tiebreaker in the first place was ‘cause he’d been right about Mondo being rusty when it came to driving round this place, and he’d managed to win a bunch of their races before Mondo got used to everything and started kicking his ass almost every race.

Guess if he’d actually cared about winning, he wouldn’t have let Mondo keep adding more races to the total, especially once he started winning again, but where would the fun have been in _that?_

“3, 2, 1…” Ishimaru had been a pretty good sport about counting them down to start each time, too. He sure as hell knew _he’d_ have got bored of just sitting and watching long before now… “GO!”

They both kicked off the bikes and set off, with Mondo inching ahead on his faster bike, but Takemichi managing to narrow the gap once they started going around the turns, especially the sharper ones his smaller bike could cut closer than Mondo’s…

But even with that advantage, they were still only neck-and-neck as they got to the final straight part of the track, and Mondo was already taking advantage of being able to push his monster of an engine to its max and pull ahead again… Looked like he was right about Mondo winning their tiebre…

 ** _*BANG!*_** Oh _shit!_ A Blowout! But… _his_ bike still running straight...

 _“Oh, FUCK!”_ He worked out that it must have been from _Mondo’s_ bike, just as the guy slowed and swerved violently off to the side away from him, leaving him to cruise past a horrified-looking Ishimaru without any competition whatsoever.

Not that it counted, or that he _cared_ about the race! He’d better make sure Mondo was alright!

“Mondo!?” From the sound of it, Ishimaru had had the same idea. “Mondo, what happened, are you alright!?”

“Mother fucking FUCK!” Well, it sure _sounded_ like the boss was alright, and once he’d cut off the bike, he could see the guy was now stood next to his bike, kicking at the damaged tyre. “Stupid piece of shit! Couldn’t have waited another five seconds!”

“Mondo…?” From the sound of it, Ishimaru was still worried about the guy, even though he was clearly up and talking…

“I’m fine, just pissed off!” Mondo grumbled.

“I… I’m not surprised!” Ishimaru gulped at the sight of the bike, even though it just needed the tyre replacing. “Do the wheels on these things _usually_ just explode like that?”

“No… It ain’t that the wheel exploded, the tyre just burst… And it doesn’t usually happen outta nowhere like that unless the tyre’s old and worn out.” Mondo explained.

“Which it _shouldn’t_ have been, you just got new tyres right at the end of summer!” Takemichi remembered. “ _Damn,_ half the gang got their tyres from the same place right after you!”

“N… Not them.” Mondo shook his head. “Kaz-ichi switched ‘em…”

That guy who was supposed to be the Ultimate Mechanic? So much for that! “Oh… Well, at least we’ve only gotta switch _your_ tyre then. I can go see if anyone’s got a spare that’ll fit…”

“Thnks.” Mondo nodded sharply at him.

“So, what brands are _these_ ones…?” As he was turning to leave, he noticed Ishimaru start to get close to the undamaged tyre, only for Mondo to grab him by the arm and pull him away from it. “Err…? Mondo…?”

 _Heh…_ guess Mondo still cared enough about the bike not to want him to near it when it was _damaged!_ Or maybe he was wondering if the guy had fucked the tyre up while he was off getting lost…? Either way, he shouldn’t be hanging around feeling smug about it… And he needed to try and remember which members of the gang had the same type of bike as Mondo and might have a spare… or maybe even _two_ spares, seeing as that other tyre was probably a piece of shit to!

It only took a couple of minutes to get back to the carpark and find a couple of the guys he’d been thinking about, but only Isobe actually _had_ a spare tyre, which meant he could still do with another one…

“Kino swapped one of his out yesterday. He might still have it.” The guy pointed out, “It ain’t new, but I don’t think it was fucked, yet.”

“That’d work for now. You know where he is?”

“He just went back in his tent a coupla minutes ago.”

“Great, thanks. Get the tyre and leave it here and I’ll take ‘em both to Mondo once I’ve got the other!” He left them with their orders and drove over to find Kino’s tent… “Yo, Kino!”

“Huh…!? Boss?” Kino jumped as Takemichi poked his head in the door, though he didn’t get _why…_ the guy was just reading a comic book… “Uhh… what’s up?”

“Mondo’s tyre blew out in the forest and he could do with a spare to get the bike back over here…” Michi explained, “You still got the one you swapped out yesterday?”

“Oh… kinda! I left it with some of the trash that we were gonna toss tomorrow…” He answered, putting the comic down on top of a second one he had off to the side. “Lemme go show you!”

“Thanks.” Takemichi nodded and stepped out of the way of the tent flap so the guy could take the lead. “You managed to find some cheap comics…?”

“Uhh… summat like that…” Kino muttered… Don’t tell him they were _stolen,_ last thing he needed was Ishimaru getting in a hissy fit again!

“Whaddaya _mean_ ‘something like that’?”

“Urgh… That Ishimaru guy was whining that he didn’t have enough books to study yesterday, so I figured I’d shut him up by offering to get him some from the library.” Kino moaned, “Turns out they do comics, too, so seeing as I’d already been stuck in there for fucking ages there just to get the damn card, I figured I’d get something for myself!”

“What…? When was this?” The only time that guy had had a chance to speak to Kino was right after reading that book, wasn’t it?

“Oh… after the boss had him read that book to us?” Kino answered… but that didn’t make sense with what Ishimaru had told him! Had he lied to cover up the fact that he’d been asking the Diamonds to do shit for him? “What’s with that look?”

“Eh… It’s just, that ain’t what Ishimaru told me you’d been talking about…”

“O-oh…?” Why the hell did Kino look so nervous!? It wasn’t like Takemichi was gonna take Ishimaru’s word over _his!_ “Well… what did _he_ tell you…?”

“He…” Takemichi barely started his answer before Kino carried on talking in a rush…

“Was it some shit about offering me advice? ‘C-cause he _tried_ to offer me some advice, but it’s not like I actually _took_ it…!”

“Uhh…” _The hell was that about!?_ He was clearly lying, but… _why!?_ Had he actually taken this advice of Ishimaru’s? But if he went to the library, then he wouldn’t have had time to go to do anything else… unless going to the library _was_ the advice…?

…Fuck it! He’d have to try and work this out later. For now, best to let Kino think he didn’t know what the hell had happened…

“He told me he’d followed you to find out why you’d been pissed off about reading.” Takemichi told half the truth, “I told him he should keep his nose outta other people’s business before he got the chance to say anything else, though.”

“Oh, yeah that! He was blathering on about getting nervous about speaking in front of large groups, and how he could gimme some tips for it!” Kino laughed loudly. “Can you imagine? Get scared of just _talking_ to people? What a fucking _nerd,_ eh?”

“Hah! Yeah! No kidding…” Takemichi laughed back, “’Cept you gotta give him his _proper_ title… _Ultimate_ Nerd! Remember?”

“Bwahahaha! Oh yeah, you’re right! I got it, boss!” Kino laughed back, “Anywhere, this is where I left the tyre…”

All told, by the time he got back to Mondo with the new pair of tyres and some tools, it’d almost been twenty minutes since he left him there… Hopefully the guy wasn’t too pissed at having to wait that long. He was starting to wonder if getting the second tyre was gonna be worth the time it had taken, or whether Mondo was gonna shout at him for wasting time as soon as he pulled the bike up…

But it turned out, Mondo wasn’t even _there_ when he pulled up! The bike was still there, but him and Ishimaru were nowhere to be seen…

What the fuck? The boss wouldn’t have just left the bike behind completely! He must be somewhere around here…

 _“Hhhh… hhhh…”_ He could hear something… like someone gasping? It was coming from that clump of trees over there…

“It’s alright… you’re over the worst of it now…” That was Ishimaru! Who was he talking to?

 _“Hhhhh…!”_ A few steps later he had his answer… It was Mondo, knelt on the floor and gripping the guy’s arms while… while he was struggling to breath, or… _something!_ What the fuck was this!? Was he choking!? What would he have choked on!?

“Just keep breathing steadily, okay…?” Whatever was going on, Ishimaru didn’t look worried… at least, not worried _enough_ given Mondo was sweating all over and shaking with every gasp of breath!

“ _Hhhhh… ‘kay.”_ Mondo nodded weakly… He looked awful, but with the way Ishimaru was acting… Had this happened before…?

…Was there a chance he really _had_ got sick? Just… with something that didn’t affect him all the time? Like… asthma? But he’d have an inhaler for that, right? Hope’s Peak shoulda been able to give him something like that, and there’s no way Ishimaru wouldn’t have been shoving it down his throat right now if they _had!_ So what the hell was wrong with him…?

“Are you feeling better now…?” Ishimaru’s question cut into his thoughts… it looked like Mondo _was_ managing to breath better, now.

“Y-yeah… I think so.” Mondo nodded at him, “Did anyone else see this?”

“Err… no, I don’t think so.” Ishimaru answered wrongly, before scowling. “Wait… _that’s_ why you forced yourself over here!?”

“’Course.” Mondo braced himself against a tree and stood up, with some help from Ishimaru. “…I can’t let ‘em find out about this.”

Well _shit…_ Obviously the boss hadn’t wanted him to see… _whatever_ he’d just seen! And Mondo looked alright now, so it couldn’t have been _that_ big of a deal, right? It was probably nothing, really! He should just… act like he’d never seen it! ‘Cause if it was really worth worrying about, then Ishimaru would be freaking out instead of just arguing with the guy…

“But… why _not!?”_ Ishimaru annoyed cry was the last of the conversation that he heard before he headed back to the bikes. He could probably start changing the tyres over, and just claim he’d not been able to work out where the pair of them had gone…

* * *

(Friday September 28th 2012)

“Mondo…? Mondo…?” Taka’s voice… “Are you awake?”

“…Mmm…” Could hear, right? “Yeah.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”

“Would you like me to go get you some food?”

Didn’t wanna make Taka go alone… didn’t wanna open eyes… “Gimme five more minutes…”

“…Alright.”

Heh… lil’ kiss from Taka…

…

…

He was awake now. No idea what woke him up though. The tent was empty. And he had that weird disjointed feeling from sleeping too long, or at the wrong time…

What the hell _was_ the time? Hadn’t he been about to go out for food with Taka? Where _was_ Taka?

“Taka…!?” Mondo quickly opened the tent door, then immediately regretted it as bright light flooded his eyes. “Ah, fuck!”

“Ah, Mondo! You’re awake!” He heard Taka’s shouting over to him as he covered his eyes and waited to get used to the light. “Don’t worry about getting up! I’m just getting some food, I’ll bring it over to you!”

What? Taka was getting him food? Hadn’t he told the guy _not_ to!? “What happened to waiting _five fucking minutes!?”_

“That was almost five _hours_ ago! I'ts _lunchtime_ now!” What!? Was he serious!? It’s not like he’d joke about it, but… had he really slept in for another _five hours!?_ “Obviously you’re still a bit out of it! Probably best to give yourself some time to wake up and eat before you start getting up and doing things!”

“Urgg…” Maybe Taka was right… he could at least wipe the sleep outta his eyes and wait until his head had cleared up a little… “Sure. See you in a sec…”

Damn… Five hours asleep? What the hell? Sure, he’d been feeling a bit shit after the panic attack last night, but… _five hours!?_ What the hell were the gang gonna think?

Wait… what the hell would Taka have even _told_ ‘em!? At least _some_ of ‘em musta asked him what was up after all this time, right!? And if it turned out Michi had seen him when he came back last night and was just _pretending_ to believe their bullshit about being on the floor ‘cause they thought they’d seen a badger…

“I must say, I’m glad to see you’re awake now!” Oh, good! There was Taka coming into the tent, he could ask him! “I was starting to get a bit…”

“What did you tell the gang!?”

“…worried about… err… _what?”_ Taka froze and blinked at him.

“Did you tell ‘em _why_ I’ve been in here asleep for five hours longer that I usually would?”

“Oh! Well…” Shit! Taka looked guilty…

“You told ‘em ‘bout my panic attack…”

“No! I knew you didn’t want them to know about that! You made that obvious last night!” Taka barked, although he still looked annoyed about it... “But… did you even tell them that the whole reason the school let us come out here is because you’re not well at the moment?”

“Uhh…” Well… he’d told ‘em _Taka_ thought that, at least… “

“…You _didn’t,_ did you…!? I _knew_ they all looked too surprised about it when I told them!” Taka sighed, “Do you really think they’d disrespect you _that_ much, just for being sick!?”

“Hey! It’s not like I didn’t tell ‘em at _all!”_ He didn’t want Taka to think he was being a _total_ dumbass! “I just… they’ve got this idea in their head that I never get sick, and I didn’t wanna worry ‘em either! So I just… didn’t act like it was that big of a deal, you know? So they’re probably just surprised it’s had an effect on me. Or that I ain’t just making shit up to get outta school for a few weeks!”

“Oh, I _see!”_ Least Taka looked less annoyed at _him!_ But now it looked like he was getting pissed at the rest of the Diamonds instead. “So I _did_ hear them saying you were being _lazy,_ and _faking_ it…!”

Hah! Of course they thought he was faking it! Hell, he’d even suggested he might try it a couple of times, before going to Hope’s Peak the first time, hadn’t he!? And seeing as he’d told ‘em all Taka was supposed to believe he was sick, they might even believe that was why he’d done this, today…!

“…I’m going to go and give them a piece of my mind!” So it was a shame Taka was about to go yell at ‘em all for thinking exactly what Mondo wanted ‘em to! _And_ take the food back out _with_ him! “As if you’d _lie_ for such a petty…!”

 _“Wait!_ Hang on!” Mondo lunged over and grabbed his arm to stop him, “I…”

 _“AARGGH!”_ Mondo pulled him hand back faster than if he’d been burnt as Taka suddenly cried out in pain at his touch, looking like he’d barely managed not to drop the plate he was holding…

“What the hell was that!?” Taka hadn’t said anything about his arm, had he!? But then, Mondo hadn’t really been in the best place to remember it if he _had…_ “When’d you hurt your arm!?”

“Ah… I think it must have been last night, when that group decided to throw me…” Goddamn those stupid assholes! He knew they’d just been playing around, but couldn’t they tell Taka wasn’t used to that kinda thing!? “I guess I must have had landed on a small rock or something, because there’s a large bruise right there…”

“Lemme see…” He found a different spot to hold Taka’s arm by and pull him closer…

“What?” Why did Taka look surprised!?

“I said lemme see!”

“But… _Why!?”_

“So I can make sure it’s alright!”

“But… _I’m_ the one who knows first aid! And it is! It’s just a bruise! You just happened to hit the one spot on my arm that hurts!”

“So!? I still wanna make sure it’s okay!”

“But I just told you it _is!”_ Urrgghh… Was Taka getting pissed that Mondo was suggesting he couldn’t do first aid right, or was he just being stubborn about it!? “And I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself!”

“Yeah, I _know!_ But I still wanna _see!”_ This wasn’t going anywhere, was it? What was it Taka had said to him before, maybe that’d work…? “And just ‘cause you can look after yourself, doesn’t mean you should _have_ to!”

“Ah…?” Well, that had _finally_ worked, if his blush was anything to go by… “Alright… But at least eat your food first! What with last night and you missing breakfast, I’m surprised you didn’t go straight for it…”

“Huh…” Oh… _yeah,_ he _was_ kinda hungry, now Taka mentioned it… “Alright, let’s eat, _then_ you show me your arm…”

“Alright.” Taka nodded, although he still looked confused about it, even as he sat down and passed a plate of ham sandwiches and a bottle of water over to him and watched him start eating... “How are _you_ feeling, now?”

“Me?” Oh… _Right,_ he’d had a panic attack and then been dead to the world the last five hours. How’d he forget that…? “Eh… I’m kinda out of it, but that’s all…”

“That’s good! It seems the extra sleep helped, then!” Taka smiled, as he started eating his own sandwiches. “I won’t be worried, next time!”

 _‘Next time!?_ What did he mean ‘next time’!? Did he think that was gonna happen again!? But it was only ‘cause of the blowout… right!? It wasn’t like it was gonna happen every time he got on the bike! Hell, it shouldn’t even have happened ‘cause of the blowout! He’d dealt with plenty of those before, why should that one have fucked him up so badly!? And how could he make sure it didn’t happen again when he was probably gonna have that rematch with Michi!? If anything was gonna cause another blowout, it’d be _that!_ But he’d said he was gonna send someone out to get the tyres fixed today so that shouldn’t happen anyway, should it…?

“Err… _Mondo?”_ Shit… he’d been thinking for too long! “Mondo, are you alright…?”

“I’m fine!” He _was_ fine, right? Right! And while he was at it… “I ain’t gonna have another panic attack tonight!”

“Err...” Taka didn’t believe him, did he…!?

“That one last night was just cause of the blowout! And we’re getting that fixed and it ain’t happening again!” Mondo reminded him. “So I ain’t gotta worry about having another whenever I go on my bike, alright!?”

“Ah… Of course not! I didn’t mean I was expecting you to have another one _that_ soon! I just meant… in the future! Even if it ends up being years before something else stressful happens and happens to trigger these, certainly not _tonight…_ ” Taka explained, with a frown that got deeper and deeper the more he talked… “And I didn’t mention anything about your _bike_ , either…”

“Uhh…” Shit… he _hadn’t_ had he? Which meant that’d all been _Mondo_ worrying…

“Mondo… are you worried about going on your bike again?” Taka asked, scooting over a little to put a hand on his leg. “I’m sure it’ll be fine! They took it out to get brand new tyres at a garage they all trust! And I checked to make sure the tread is of the correct length and the tyres have a brand name on them!”

“I know! I just…” Shit… why _was_ he worrying about it! “I dunno… as soon as you said about this happening again, I just starting thinking… what if it _does_ happen again…? I mean, I’ve had blowouts before that didn’t cause me a problem, so how do I know some other dumb shit that shouldn’t bother me isn’t suddenly gonna…”

“Don’t call it that! What happened last night was scary, even for me! I can’t _imagine_ how bad it must have been to be riding on the bike when that happened!” Taka snapped at him, “Ah… sorry. But it’s alright to be scared by something like that, even if it’s hasn’t done previously! And you shouldn’t belittle yourself so much for it!”

“Alright…” He hadn’t meant to shit on himself, but maybe he needed to find a better way to get Taka to understand how he felt right now. “But… What I mean is, now it’s happened once, I’m gonna spend the whole time worrying that it could happen again, y’know?”

“Oh… Oh, I see! And then you wouldn’t enjoy riding…” Taka pursed his lips as he thought about it. “Then… perhaps you should try to spend some time riding a little slower, until you’re more confident again? Or maybe take a break from riding for today, until you feel a bit more like your normal self again!”

A break sounded nice, but… “That ain’t gonna work. The guys will all be expected me to go riding with ‘em tonight, ‘cause it’s a Friday. And once we’re out there, Michi’ll challenge me to a race again…”

“And I suppose you can’t just say ‘no’, can you?” Taka sighed, “Or convince them to have a quiet night of listening to me read again…”

“Hah! Not without a good reason for it!” ...And now Taka was scowling at him. “And yeah, I know ‘worried about a panic attack’ is a good reason, but I can’t tell the gang about that right now!”

“Haah… And I suppose you wouldn’t want them to believe you’d just rather hear me read than go on your bike, either…?” Taka was getting good at working out how the gang thought about stuff. “…What if we told them _I_ wanted to read tonight, because of my arm?”

“What?” How would that work?

“Well… My arm hurts, so I wouldn’t be able to try riding the bike… not when I’m supposed to be learning to turn it!” Taka pointed out, “So, I could say I want to read instead, because otherwise I’d get left out!”

Taka having a strop about being left out? It’d probably work, but… “That’ll make ‘em think you’re an asshole!”

“I know that! But, I’d rather that, then have to worry about you going on the bike when you don’t feel ready for it, yet!” And that was the truth, wasn’t it? He’d probably rather have the whole gang bitch at him for a day, then worry about Mondo for a _minute…_ “Besides… maybe that’ll teach them not to _throw me down a HILL!”_

 _“Bahahaha!_ I thought ya did that last night when ya _shoved_ ‘em down it!” Mondo laughed as Taka looked embarrassed at being reminded that he decided to be a prick to ‘em all… And now here he was talking about doing something that’d probably piss them off again… “I dunno though. I shouldn’t be getting _you_ to do this…”

“Ah…” Taka’s face fell as he looked at his. “Well… think of it like this… Whatever happens, your gang is probably going to have a lower opinion of _one_ of us, aren’t they?”

“Well… they _wouldn’t_ if I could just get over this and go on the bike like I usually…”

“Mondo…! Be honest with me here…” Taka grumbled at him, “And stop berating yourself while you’re at it!”

Be honest with him!? Did he mean about whether he _could_ just get over this and go on the bike, right away…?

“Alright… Yeah, I guess we’re either gonna have to tell ‘em _I_ don’t wanna ride, or _you’re_ making ‘em all sit and read again…” Mondo admitted.

“So, then, the question is… which would you prefer?”

…He’d _prefer_ to be able to be honest with ‘em all and say he didn’t wanna go out on the bike. But if he did _that_ they’d all start wondering why and whether he was really cut out to be their leader anymore and maybe they should get a new one and then they wouldn’t have to help protect Taka anymore and…

“Mondo…?”

 _“You.”_ Mondo took the easy way out. “I’d rather you say it’s _your_ fault.”

“Then I will!” Taka leant over and kissed his cheek. “And don’t worry! We’ll only do it for one night! I’m sure they won’t be _too_ upset with me!”

“Heh… Some of ‘em might even be glad you did it…” He could think of a couple of ‘em who’d probably wanna hear the end of the book, anyway…

Of course, Michi was gonna be _pissed._ Assuming he didn’t figure out exactly _why_ they were doing this, ‘cause Mondo _still_ couldn’t believe he’d really just started fixing the bike without looking for him and actually bought that shit about the badger! And even if he _had,_ it still seemed like there was stuff that was getting at him, even beyond Mondo having come to visit with his _boyfriend…_ Like that stuff with him getting upset at him letting Taka ride his bike! He’d had no idea the guy would take that personally…

Then again, he hadn’t exactly spent much time trying to figure this stuff out, had he? He’d just taken having the guy’s help all the time for granted! Even _after_ finding out how he felt about him, they hadn’t really talked all that much.

He oughta make sure he changed that, sometime soon. Maybe he could suggest they do that instead of racing on Saturday…?

* * *

(Saturday September 29th 2012)

“Tch… guess I lost again…” Mondo really _had!_ And by a _lot!_ “Guess I’m still not used to this place…”

That was _bullshit!_ He hadn’t been losing this badly last time! And he’d had plenty of time to get used to the new tyres as well, which was the excuse he’d used _last_ race…

Something really was up with Mondo. And that… _whatever_ it was he’d seen had only been the start of it! He’d had a bunch of the gang asking him what was up after the guy had spent half of yesterday asleep, and then he’d not even _tried_ to argue when Ishimaru started bitching about his arm and made ‘em all listen to him read again! And now they finally _had_ got on the bikes again, Mondo was barely trying to race him, like he was scared to go at top speed!

But… that couldn’t be it! Why the hell would Mondo be scared of riding!? It wasn’t like that had been the first time he’d had a blowout on the bike, and he’d always been fine after all of the other times…

“Hey, how’s about we take a break and talk for a bit?” …And now he wanted to _take a_ _break_ from riding!? To _talk!?_

“We’ve talked plenty this week…”

“ _Yeah,_ I know! But we’ve always been surrounded by guys before.” What difference did that make!? “I thought maybe we could… Uhh… just talk together, for a bit…”

“About what…?” This didn’t _seem_ like it was just gonna be gang business, which was what he’d usually wanna talk to him about.

“Well… I wondered if there’s anything on your mind at all?” Mondo asked, scratching his head.

“You mean… about the gang?”

“No! I mean about _you!”_ Mondo shouted, “Or… maybe other stuff, but I mean stuff that’s bothering you _personally,_ not just… stuff you’re doing for the gang!”

Stuff that was _bothering_ him? Why would Mondo think anything was… _Oh._ “Is this ‘cause I got annoyed about you letting Ishimaru on your bike?”

“Kinda, but…” _He knew it…_

“Look, Mondo. I’m not still pissed off about that!” That was _two days_ ago! He was surprised Mondo even remembered! “It was just that your bike was the _one_ thing you never trusted me with, so it was kinda insulting that you let _him_ on it, when he’s never even been on one before!”

“Yeah… I figured that it was probably something like that…” Mondo nodded, “But, it’s been so long since I worried about other people touching my bike, that I didn’t think about it like that ‘till you complained!”

“I know! You’ve just changed how much you care about the bike!” Hell, He hadn’t even complained about Takemichi doing _repair_ work on it… “That’s why I ain’t mentioned it again! I’m over it!”

“That’s great, but… I oughta have seen that coming _before_ you complained!” What? How? It’s not like he’d ever said anything about it! And Mondo wasn’t a mind-reader… “At least, I _might_ have if I’d been checking how things are with you as often as I shoulda…”

“Geez, Mondo, what are you, my _Dad!?”_ Hell, Mondo spoke to him more often than _that_ guy ever did… “It ain’t like it’s your _job_ to make sure I’m okay…”

“It’s my job as leader of the gang to make sure _all_ of you guys are okay!” Mondo argued, “And even it if wasn’t, a good _friend_ wouldn’t do shit like not notice you skipping school for several _months!”_

“What!?” The hell was Mondo talking about!? “C’mon, Mondo! You’re a great friend! You just didn’t notice I was skipping 'cause we go to completely different schools and I didn’t _tell_ you!”

“Yeah, but I never _asked_ either!” Mondo cried, “That’s the problem! I talk to you all the time, but it’s always about what’s going on with the gang, and I never ask you about school or… or anything _else_ you care about!”

“Of course you don’t ask me about _school!_ You know I hate talking about it!” Mondo sighed at that… Huh, maybe this was all ‘cause he was worried about how Takemichi was doing at school, since he’d started going back? “But it’s going fine now, anyway! And there _isn’t_ anything else I care about aside from the gang!”

 _“Really…!?”_ Why’d Mondo look so worried about that? “Look, I just… I wanna check there’s nothing else like that, where you haven’t told me ‘bout it just ‘cause you didn’t think it was worth bothering me with it… ’Cause you’re my _friend,_ so if it’s bothering _you,_ then it’s worth bothering _me!_ You get what I mean?”

Huh… he wanted to check there was nothing else Takemichi was hiding from him. Guess that was fair, but… “I get it. But I ain’t hiding anything else from you! You can trust me!”

“Uhh… right.” Mondo blinked at him in surprise. Why, was he expecting him to say something _else?_ “That’s good, then… Just, remember you can always tell me anything, alright?”

“Will do!” Mondo still looked weird. Like he was trying to work out how to do something… or maybe how to _say_ something? “Was there something _you_ wanted to tell _me?”_

“Uhh… Yeah, there is one thing…” _Huh…_ It seemed like it was important, given how long Mondo was thinking about it. Maybe it had something to do with what had been up with him, the last few days…? “I uhh… I don’t say it enough, but I wanna thank you for everything you do for the gang!”

“Wha? Is that it!?” So much for an explanation… “I thought you were gonna say something _important!”_

“Aww, c’mon! This is important!” Mondo clapped a hand on his shoulder, and kept it there. “You know, I would never have been able to go to Hope’s Peak, or do _half_ the stuff I have done without _you_ backing me up! But I know I’ve done a shitty job of showing it so far, so I wanna make sure you know that I appreciate it all! And I appreciate _you!_ You’re one of the best guys in my life and I’m lucky to have you! You know that?”

“Ehhh…?” Was Mondo gonna move his hand, or was this supposed to be a hug kinda moment? And why the hell was he even _saying_ all of this!? Takemichi _knew_ he was important to the gang! What the hell was with all this mushy crap!? What was he even supposed to say to this…? “…Thanks?”

“Uh… no problem.” Mondo took his hand away and scratched his head, looking embarrassed about how weird he’d been acting… “Well… if you ain’t got anything else you wanna talk about, how about another race…?”

“S-sure!” _Finally,_ this weird conversation was over!

But why the hell had it even _started!?_ It couldn’t _just_ be ‘cause he’d got annoyed a few days ago! Especially not all that weird mushy stuff just now! Hell, that was the kind of thing you said as a final goodbye to a friend before you _died,_ not just…

 _Wait._ Was… was _that_ it!? Was that what was going on!? Could it be Mondo really _had_ got sick and… might even _die_ ‘cause of it!? That might explain why the school had let him come out here with the gang… it sure as hell made more sense than someone wanting to kill nerdy-fucking- _Ishimaru!_

But… what if that _was_ it!? How could he find out!? There was no way Mondo would _tell_ him about it! He’d never wanna admit that he was sick! But the only person who would know would be him or…

 _Ishimaru._ Ishimaru would _have_ to know, if the reason he’d come out here really _was_ ‘cause Mondo was sick! And, even if Mondo had told _him_ not to speak either, it’d probably be easy to _scare_ the guy into talking, just as long as he managed to corner him somewhere where Mondo wasn’t around to help…

* * *

(Sunday September 30th 2012)

“Hey, Ishimaru!” Kiyotaka had barely gone far enough on his afternoon walk to stop hearing the Crazy Diamonds shouting behind him when he suddenly heard Yukimaru calling him from behind. “Wait up… I wanna talk to you!”

“Ah… alright!” He stopped and turned to face the boy, as he briskly strode over to him. And now he was here, there was something _he_ needed to talk to Yukimaru about, wasn’t there!? “Actually, I need to speak to you as well!”

“Oh?” Yukimaru looked at him cautiously, “Well, what is it?”

“Err… Well, I want apologise to you and Mitsukuni for that business with the pokémon cards…” Kiyotaka explained, “But I haven’t managed to…”

 _“What?_ That was ages ago!” Yukimaru cut him off, “Why the hell are you bringing it up now!?”

“I know, I should have apologised earlier!” Kiyotaka admitted, “But like I was saying, I haven’t managed to find a time when I could talk to _both_ of you in private, so I was wondering…”

“No, I mean, it’s been days and neither of us mentioned it!” Yukimaru interrupted again, “Why’d you think we _care?”_

“Well, I… err…” Kiyotaka had to think about it… no one he’d apologised to have ever asked _why_ he was doing it, it was just something you _did!_ Wasn’t it? “I mean… I don’t know how upset either of you were over it, but it was still rude of me! And so I should apologise! Shouldn’t I?”

“Ehh… I’d rather you just not fucking do it again!” Michi waved his hand dismissively, “Anyway I got summat I wanna ask you.”

“Err… alright!” Kiyotaka guessed that meant his apology was accepted? By Yukimaru, at least? “What did you need to know?”

“Well… You and Mondo are here cause he’s sick, right?” Yukimaru asked, “And the school said he needs fresh air and shit?”

“Y-yes… That’s… more or less the situation…” Or at least, it was as close as Mondo would probably want Kiyotaka to admit to…

“So… what’s he got?” Yukimaru asked, in a casual tone…

“Do you mean… what illness he has?” Kiyotaka had to check, because he couldn’t really believe that was what Yukimaru meant! After all… “We’ve almost been here for a _week!_ Why are you only just asking now!?”

“Uhh… Honestly? The way Mondo told me? I figured he was faking it. Or maybe your school was overreacting to something dumb.” Yukimaru admitted, which _was_ what Mondo had told him was probably the case… “It’s only ‘cause some of the guys mentioned he’s been sleeping a lot that I thought maybe I oughta check.”

“I see. But why are you asking _me,_ and not him?” Kiyotaka’s first thought was that he’d probably assumed Mondo would refuse to answer him and decided to go behind his back and ask Kiyotaka. But he’d only _just_ finished apologising for assuming the worst of him, and there must be _some_ nicer reason for it… “Were you too embarrassed to admit you’re worried about him?”

“Fuck you! I ain’t worried about him!” Yukimaru snapped, “I just figured it’ll be easier to get a straight answer outta _you!”_

“Err…” _That_ hadn’t gone well. It seemed like his initial ‘worst’ idea was not only less insulting to him that Kiyotaka’s attempt to think of a better one, but also the _right_ answer! Unless he was just embarrassed to admit that he _was_ worried about Mondo? It was hard to tell what he was really thinking. But either way, he at least deserved to know Mondo wasn’t _severely_ sick, even if Kiyotaka couldn’t give him all the details… “Alright. I can tell you that Mondo _has_ been needing more sleep because of his… health problem. But it’s not anything that’s going to kill him or cause long-term damage to his health, or anything like that! And I don’t think it should last forever, either… He just needs some time to get some extra rest and relaxation, for a while!”

“Alright, so… what _is_ it, then?” Yukimaru asked, insistently. Which was what Kiyotaka had been hoping he wouldn’t do.

“It’s not my place to say.” Kiyotaka told him, “Ask Mondo.”

“I just _told_ you, I know I ain’t gonna get a straight answer from him!” Yukimaru snapped.

“Then why do you think _I_ would give you one!?” Kiyotaka snapped at him, although he immediately regretted it. He was probably just worried about his friend, after all! “Look… I know you’re his best friend and you deserve to know! But I can’t just _tell_ you about Mondo’s medical history, when I _know_ he wouldn’t want me to!”

“No shit! I ain’t expecting you to just up and tell me ‘cause I _asked_ _nicely!_ ” Yukimaru stretched and cracked his knuckles. “I reckon you’re gonna tell me, ‘cause if you _don’t_ I’ll fucking _beat_ the answer outta you!”

“What!?” He looked serious about this! And he’d even picked a part of Kiyotaka’s walk that would make it hard for him to get around him and back to the camp, so he couldn’t just rely on running away from him.

But that still didn’t mean he’d actually be able to win in a fight against Kiyotaka! After all he was used to training with _Sakura_ , even if she did hold back against him! “You can _try,_ but I’m still not going to tell you!” Kiyotaka warned him, getting into a defensive stance as Yukimaru strode over with an angry glare, hunkered down and raised his fists…

“… _Ahhh!_ GodDAMMIT!” Then, just as quickly, he dropped them again and kicked the dirt in frustration.

Was he… giving up already? “You’re not even going to _try_ to…?”

“Of _course_ I’m not gonna try beating you up! That’d piss off Mondo even more than you just _telling_ me would!” Yukimaru yelled, “I was just hoping I’d be able to scare you into blabbing…”

He’d really thought _that_ would scare Kiyotaka? “But… I’ve been learning martial arts for the last year! I wouldn’t give up before the fight even _started!”_ Kiyotaka argued, “Did you think this sword on my back is for show?”

“Well, _duh!_ It’s made of _wood!_ It ain’t like it’s _real!”_

“It’d still _hurt_ if I hit you with it!”

“Pfft! You wouldn’t get the _chance!”_ Yukimaru laughed at him, “Or do you really think all that ‘martial arts’ crap would actually help you in a _real_ fight!?”

“Of course it would help! I mean, it _has_ helped!” At least, it had when he’d been at Sayaka’s concert… “I was able to disarm someone attacking me with a knife!”

“Hah… was that someone who actually knew what he was doing? Or just some idiot who’d picked up a knife and figured it’d make winning easy for him?” Yukimaru scoffed, especially as Kiyotaka realised that it was probably the latter… “I figured as much! Sure, you might win in a _match_ where you’re wearing padded clothes and I wouldn’t be allowed to hit you wherever! But in a _real_ fight, if I was actually hurting you!? I’d kick your ass in seconds!”

Was that really true!? Even after all his training with Sakura, he’d still be just as helpless as when the bullies at his old school ganged up on him…?

 _“NO!”_ He couldn’t believe that! He _refused_ to believe it! After all, Sakura had taught him all those skills so he could help her keep their class safe! And he’d promised Mondo he’d help keep _him_ safe! Yukimaru was just assuming that being in a gang and having a few brawls meant he was tougher than most! But… “That’s _not_ true! And I’ll _prove_ it!”

“What…? You wanna _fight_ me!?” Yukimaru sneered as Kiyotaka got back into his stance. “I just told you, that’d piss off Mondo!”

“Then I won’t tell him about it!” Kiyotaka suggested, “It can be… a promise between men! Whoever loses won’t tell anyone who beat them!”

“Tch…” Yukimaru scowled at the offer. “Mondo’s not dumb, he’ll figure it out!”

“Why…? You really think he’d assume his _bodyguard_ attacked me?” Especially if Kiyotaka said it _wasn’t_ him!? “…Or are you just worried that maybe you’re wrong, and I’ll win?”

“You _wish,_ Ishimaru!” He spat out, hunkering down again like before… “But I ain’t gonna stand here and let you call me a coward, not matter _how_ much Mondo likes you!”

“Err… But I didn’t call you a…”

“It’s what you fucking _meant!”_ Yukimaru yelled as he charged forward, his first flurry of punches missing as Kiyotaka quickly stepped back out of the way and started dodging as he tried to get used to the boy’s fighting style…

He might be a little shorter than Kiyotaka, but he was _fast!_ And unlike Sakura, he wasn’t pulling any of those punches. If Kiyotaka didn’t make sure to block him, it was going to _hurt!_

“You planning on actually _hitting_ me at all!?” Yukimaru asked, after a short while, then carried on in a snooty mockery of his own voice… “’It isn’t good to be so _defensive_ all the time!’”

Kiyotaka did _not_ sound like that! And this was _not_ the type of defensiveness he’d been talking about!

…But, he _was_ starting to get a feeling for the pattern the boy attacked in. If he was right, it should be safe to start throwing out some quick jabs.

 _“Hah!_ Is that the best you’ve got!? Or did you forget this ain’t your fake fighting lessons!? _”_ Yukimaru laughed after a few of them had connected with his upper body. “You should be trying ta hit me like _this!”_

“Arrgh!” Kiyotaka barely noticed Yukimaru had ducked down when the boy suddenly drove a fist hard into the side of his ribcage, causing him to wince and grab his side in pain… So, he hadn’t been joking about actually trying to _hurt_ Kiyotaka…

 _“Heh…”_ A short smirk from the gangster was all the warning he got, before the boy span and kicked him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him, making him double up in pain... at which point he quickly planted a foot behind Kiyotaka’s boot and then pushed him backward onto the floor before Kiyotaka could react…

 _“Haarggh! *Hack hack…*”_ Kiyotaka finally managed to cough as he hit the floor, then struggled to catch his breath and get back up while Yukimaru, and a couple of other boys who’d apparently turned up and started watching, all laughed.

“Ya see what I mean? You take _one_ hit that actually _hurt_ , and you leave yourself open wide open!” Yukimaru observed, “Or maybe you thought I was gonna stop while we waited for the judges to announce I’d scored a point? Was that it!?”

“I…” It was probably the former option, but Kiyotaka didn’t want to admit that. “I wasn’t expecting you to kick me in the _stomach!”_

“Why? ‘Cause it’s not _allowed_ in your fancy classes?” The boy smirked, as Kiyotaka tried to ignore the pain in his stomach muscles and stood back up again. “This is a _real_ fight! Anything goes!”

“I think I understand, now…” Honestly, maybe the boy was right… None of his sparring with Sakura had prepared him for dealing with this level of brutalilty…

But that _didn’t_ mean he was going to _lose!_ It just meant he needed to put more effort into his _own_ attacks!

 _“Good!_ So maybe we can… _WOAH!”_ Yukimaru barely shifted out of the way fast enough to avoid the hard straight punch Kiyotaka had tried to chase him down with, and his dodge was clumsy enough that he left his right side open to a left hook. _“Ggrhck!”_

 _“Whhhuuuut!?_ Did he just hit _Takemichi!?”_ He heard one of the boys watching ask incredulously… “Dude, we gotta tell everyone ‘bout this!”

But he didn’t have time to be worrying about what _they_ were doing! Unlike himself, Yukimaru took the hit to the ribs as nothing more than a warning to cover himself, and started throwing more quick flurries of punches at him, while Kiyotaka tried to find good times to respond with the odd hard punch of his own and to make sure he ignored the pain and kept going when the boy’s punches found a spot to connect…

_“Fight, fight, fight…!”_

For the most part, he _was_ managing to fight through the pain! The only problem was when the boy happened to hit the bruise on his left arm, which still hadn’t quite healed up from when those idiots had thrown him! Every time a hit connected _there,_ Kiyotaka had to grit his teeth to stop himself from crying out in pain in front of the increasingly large group of boys that had gathered around them and were now cheering them on…

_“FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!”_

_“Argh!”_ But eventually, Kiyotaka failed to keep himself quiet as a right hook from Yukimaru hit _just_ the wrong spot on his arm and a jolt of pain shot through him for the third time in a few minutes…

“Heh…” And now the boy was smirking at him, “How’s that left arm of yours? Not quite healed up yet…?”

“What…?” He’d _noticed_ this was hurting Kiyotaka… which probably meant… “You’ve been hitting me there on _purpose!”_

“Ahahaha! Did you only just figure that out!?” He was met with loud laughter, “You were dumb enough to tell everyone you had a weak spot, of course I aimed for it!”

 _“Usually_ when I fight people they have the good manners not to…!”

“I already told you, this ain’t your martial arts crap!” Yukimaru cut him off, “Anything goes out here!”

 _“Anything_ goes, eh?” He wondered if the boy really meant that… After all, Kiyotaka was the only one of them carrying any kind of weapon… “So, what if I do _this…?”_

To Yukimaru’s credit, he only looked mildly put out when Kiyotaka drew his shinai from across his back and got into a stance ready to use it, even as he heard a few murmurs of ‘oh _shit,_ dude!’ from the group clustered around them…

“Heh… alright then…” Yukimaru stretched and rolled his shoulders confidently, before hunkering back down into his own idea of a guard position. “A weapon’ll only do you any good if ya know how ta _use_ it!”

Kiyotaka barely had time to process what he’d said before the boy shot forward towards him, coming in low as if to try and get _under_ Kiyotaka’s sword…

He stepped back on instinct to give himself more space as he tried to swing the sword in a low swipe, which caught Yukimaru on the left arm _(Hah! Let’s see how HE likes it!)_ and managed to knock his momentum off-balance…

But not for long, he quickly recovered and spun around to rush Kiyotaka with several rapid punches, a couple of which slipped past his guard and dug into his stomach before he was able to push Yukimaru away with a sharp jap in the sternum and followed it up with a quick downwards strike on the top of his arm…

They repeated a similar trade-off twice more, with Yukimaru landing a few sickening punches to his stomach and sides, before Kiyotaka pushed him back to a more suitable distance for landing some heavy blows on his upper body…

 _“Gargh!”_ Ah… maybe in his reaction to the pain, the blows were a bit _too_ heavy! He certainly hadn’t been _intending_ to make Yukimaru cry out in pain like _that!_ “Grrrr… Guess ya _do_ know how ta use that thing…”

 _Ha!_ So he was admitting Kiyotaka _could_ fight!

“So let’s see how good ya are at holding _onto_ it!” Yukimaru continuing, taking advantage of Kiyotaka’s lowered guard to rush back at him and grab onto the shinai… “Get ready to play _catch_ guys!”

“AH!” Kiyotaka tightened his grip on the sword, moving one hand to grab the top end so it’d be harder for his opponent to twist it out of his grasp… He could tell that if he lost his grip on this, it’d be thrown towards the rest of the gang and he might _never_ get it back…! And this was the present Sakura had given him!

 _“Ngh… fuck!”_ Yukimaru grunted angrily as he failed to free the sword from Kiyotaka’s grasp… But on the _other_ hand, _he_ wasn’t able to shift Yukimaru, either! They were stuck in a stalemate, struggling to push and pull the other away from the sword, but neither of them having any success… “Let… _go!”_

“No!” This wasn’t working, he’d have to get more creative! Or at _least_ use his feet… _“Wh-wha…!?”_

No soon than he’d thought about his feet, he felt his left one being knocked forward from behind, and Yukimaru quickly used the chance to heave forward on the sword, pushing him further off balance before letting go of it with a smirk. He was planning to let Kiyotaka keep hold of it… as he fell backwards to the ground! And there was only one chance to stop that from happening…

 _“Hah…? What are you!?”_ Kiyotaka made a desperate grab with his left hand for Yukimaru, managing to latch onto his loose shirt and pull on it to keep himself upright, as he shifted his grip on the shinai with his other hand to pull it closer to his chest. _“No… leggo you… FUCK!”_

Wait… he was still falling! All he’d managed to do was drag Yukimaru down with him!

 _“Aaghg!”_ He let out an undignified yelp as he landed on his back and Yukimaru crashed down on top of him, landing painfully on Kiyotaka’s aching stomach…

“You’re gonna get it _now!”_ He heard the boy growl as he rose to a kneeling position and pulled his right arm back…

_He was going to punch Kiyotaka in the face!_

Kiyotaka quickly raised his right arm to block the punch, then took advantage of Yukimaru’s surprise to grab hold of his right wrist and left forearm, and start trying to push up and sideways to get Yukimaru _off_ of him…!

To his surprise, it worked! _(Right, this wasn’t Mondo he was wrestling with!)_ Yukimaru easily fell off of him, giving Kiyotaka the confidence to follow through and roll the boy onto his back, pinning him to the ground… “ _Hah! I’ve got you now!”_

“Hhhhhnnng…” Yukimaru snarled at him, puffing up his cheeks and pursing his lips at him _“Puh!”_

Suddenly, something _wet_ landed in his eye… _Uuurrgh! It was SPIT!_ Yukimaru had just _spat in his EYE!_ _Urrgghhhhh…!_

Kiyotaka instinctively tried to use his left hand to wipe his face… only to feel _another_ jolt of pain coming from the bruise on his arm…

 _“STOP DOING THAT!”_ Kiyotaka snapped at him, swinging his hand wildly and trying to ignore the stinging feeling as it connected with… _somewhere_ on Yukimaru. He was too busy getting goddamn _spit_ out his eye to see what he’d actually _done!_ But as soon as he was finished and could _see_ properly, he was going to pin this little bastard to the ground, with his arm over his _mouth_ so he couldn’t do _that_ again, and then…!

**_“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?”_ **

Huh… that voice was familiar. And as soon as he heard it, all the jeering chants that had been ongoing through the fight fell into eerie silence, and then there was suddenly a familiar hand on his arm pulling him up and away from Yukimaru…

 _“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!? YOU JUST SLAPPED HIM ROUND THE FACE!”_ Mondo screamed loudly at him… At least he _assumed_ Mondo was yelling at him, seeing as _he_ hadn’t been slapped round the face. Not that he could be sure, seeing as…

“He spat in my _eye!”_ Kiyotaka argued, before it occurred to him that even in _that_ case, a wild slap like he’d just done could probably cause a lot of damage to someone’s _face…_ “I… I couldn’t see _what_ I was doing!”

“Wha…? He _spat_ at you…?” Kiyotaka finally managed to get his eye clear, to see Mondo gaping at him and Yukimaru in turn. “Really…?”

“Was the only way I could think of to get him _off_ me…” Yukimaru sat up, grimacing briefly as he felt the side of his cheek.

“Fucking hell, guys…” Mondo groaned… They’d… probably taken this a _lot_ further than they should have, hadn’t they? “What are you even fighting _about!?”_

“Err…” Kiyotaka tried to think back on what had started it, as Yukimaru shifted his eyes away from Mondo… Oh… this was going to be embarrassing to say, but… “We were fighting over… well… whether or not I _can_ fight.”

“Ya mean… that was just like… a competition you guys were having!?” Mondo somehow looked even _more_ shocked, “I thought you guys were trying ta fucking _kill_ each other!”

“Uhh… yeah. Guess I mighta taken it a little too far…” Yukimaru admitted. “Sorry ‘bout that…”

“Yes… Same here.” Kiyotaka admitted, heading back to him and offering him a hand to help him up. “And perhaps I shouldn’t have taken ‘anything goes’ quite as literally as that…”

“Yeah… we’ve kinda an unwritten rule ‘bout not hitting each other in the face.” Yukimaru told him, grabbing him around the forearm and using _that_ to pull himself up.

“Uhh… so… we cool?” Mondo asked, as they both exchanged a glance and tried to work out if this _was_ settled or not… “Cool! But, hey! You lot! If you guys seem ‘em going _that_ hard again, fucking _stop ‘em_ insteada just yelling ‘fight, fight, fight’ at ‘em for fucks sake!”

The rest of the gang let out apologetic noises as Mondo herded them away, leaving the pair of them alone for a moment.

“If I’d have a weapon, I’d have kicked your ass…” Yukimaru let out a quiet mutter.

“You know how to use one?” Kiyotaka asked. He’d not seen any of the gang holding any out here…

“I’mma fuckin’ _learn!”_

Oh dear… Hopefully Yukimaru wasn’t a fast learner… but maybe he should ask Mondo for some tips about ‘fighting dirty’, just in case…

* * *

“Fucking _hell,_ Taka…” How long had those two been at it earlier, for Taka to end up with _that_ many bruises!? And the one on his arm had flared back up to twice the size it was this morning… No wonder he’d been gradually getting a lot stiffer and slower to move all evening! Or why he’d been so hesitant to get changed for bed, even though they were both back in the tent. “I kinda get why ya slapped him, now…”

“What? These?” Kiyotaka quickly rushed to finish changing and cover himself back up. “No… I got him back for _these_ with the Shinai. It was because he spat at me that I… Wait… no, he spat at me and then hit my arm _again_ , so I guess…”

“I don’t mean I get _exactly_ what he did that made ya slap him!” Heck, he’d have had to have been _deaf_ not to hear Taka bitching about the spit all day. “I mean I get how you got pissed off enough to _do_ it in the first place!”

 _“Oh…_ I see.” Taka sighed, “I still shouldn’t have done it, though. Should I?”

“Probably not…” Michi had looked like he was thinking about something ever since then… something like _how to get Taka back for earlier,_ if Mondo knew the guy at all. “But he shouldn’t have punched ya like that either! You ain’t used to fighting like that!”

“Well… that _was_ the point he was trying to make. That my martial arts wouldn’t be any help if I’m not prepared to ‘fight dirty’ if I need to.” Taka frowned, “I probably should have been less stubborn about it and admitted that he was right after the first few blows. But instead I got caught up in proving I could fight back regardless and… well, you saw how that turned out!”

“Yeah…” And he’d _heard_ about it to! As embarrassed as Taka was about it now he’d calmed down, the fact that he’d managed to fight _Michi_ to a stalemate had impressed a lot of the guys, even if he’d needed to bring out a weapon to do it, and they’d all be talking about how cool it’d been whenever they thought Mondo wasn’t listening to ‘em...

And, if he was honest with himself, if it had been _any_ two people other than his best friend and boyfriend duking it out like that, he’d have probably been right there with the rest of them jeering the pair of them on, instead of just feeling sick at the sight of it, and worrying that the pair of ‘em would just repeat the whole thing the next time they had any kinda argument over anything…

“Maybe if you guys decided to have another ‘test’ of who can fight better than the other, you could set some rules beforehand…” Mondo suggested.

“Ah, yes… _If_ that happens, of course! Though I can’t imagine him agreeing to it…”

“I’ll tell him to.” Mondo promised him.

“Ah, thank you!” Taka gave a surprised nod. “Errm… I’d been thinking though… would you be able to give me any tips about that kind of fighting? You know, things that might be worth me keeping in mind…?”

“Eh? _You_ wanna learn how to use cheap shots and shit in a fight!?” He’d always said he was learning to defend himself _without_ hurting people more than necessary from Sakura, so why the hell would he suddenly decide that that wasn’t good enough!? Most likely ‘cause he was trying ta think of ways to win his next ‘competition’ with _Michi!_ It wasn’t like he was gonna get in a fight with anyone _els…_

 _Oh shit._ What was he thinking!? Of course it was fucking _likely!_ There was someone out there trying to _kill_ him! They weren’t gonna be fucking _polite_ and challenge him to a duel when they did it, were they!? Taka _did_ need to know this! Even if he was asking for a fucking stupid reason!

“Yeah… alright! That’s a good idea.” He could probably tell Taka everything he could think of, and trust the guy not to use _all_ of it on Michi, right…? “The first thing you oughta keep in mind is where most people’s weak points are…” Mondo started, making Taka jolt in surprise a little before he sat down and grabbed a notebook from his bag. “In _your_ case, they’re probably all the places you’ve been told _not_ to aim for. Like the eyes, throat, temples, the balls if it’s a dude…”

* * *

(Monday October 1st 2012)

Kicking them in the groin, stabbing their throat with the sharp end of a key, throw _broken glass_ in their eyes… and those were just the ideas Mondo had come up with off the top of his head!

At first it’d looked like Mondo had realised he was looking for something to even the odds if Yukimaru came back at him with a weapon, but he couldn’t have! Surely he wouldn’t have suggested _broken glass_ if he’d thought there was even a _chance_ Kiyotaka would be using it against his friend!

Of course, he _wouldn’t_ do any of those unless his life depended on it! But there had been _some_ more viable ideas for dealing with Yukimaru… throwing _dirt_ in their face if he was pinned, for example (he was _not_ going to spit at people!) Or jabbing a finger into a pressure point… Maybe using a _key_ on a pressure point wouldn’t be too much? He could always try it on himself and see how bad it was, first…

“Okay, so now I’ve finished frying the bacon…” Kiyotaka quickly stopped reading his notes from last night and flipped back to the new set he was making, as the boy he was trying to shadow had started talking again. “I’m gonna take it out and put it on a separate plate… Do me favour and make sure no one tries to fucking steal it, alright?”

“Certainly!” Kiyotaka nodded, as he wrote down ‘Bacon to clean plate’, under ‘Fry bacon pieces until crispy’. “Are you keeping the grease in the pan?”

“Yeah… that’s what the potatoes and stuff’ll cook in.” Kiyotaka cringed as he imagined eating all the fat… but he had to admit this _had_ tasted nice last week, so hopefully it wasn’t _too_ unhealthy as an occasional treat…

And besides, there was something _else_ he needed to ask about! “How many potatoes are you using per pan? I lost count while we were slicing them all.”

“Uhh… I dunno. You just need enough slices to make two layers!” Hasimoto shrugged, which was irritating. It had _looked_ like he was counting them out earlier! But if he said as much, the ‘definitely-not-a-poncy-chef’ would probably get aggravated about it. He’d already been put-out enough when Kiyotaka had asked if he could explain what he was doing so Kiyotaka could write it down in exchange for helping with all the prep work…

“Hmm… How did you judge how many we needed to cut up then?” Kiyotaka tried asking it like that.

“Well, uhh… I’ve done this enough times to know this size of potato covers about…” Hasimoto circled a finger around a quarter of the pan. _“This_ much space.”

“So… that’s probably about four potatoes per layer… so eight potatoes per pan!” Kiyotaka went back up to the top of the notes and wrote ‘8 medium potatoes’ in the ingredients list.

“…Yeah.” Hasimoto coughed and started placing the slices of potato over in a layer over the bottom of the dish. “Anyway, so then I usually put in a layer of potato, then onion, then bacon, then cheese, then…”

“Wait! Hold on a second!” Kiyotaka rushed to try and write that down… “Make layer of potato, then onion, then… cheese?”

“Bacon, then cheese.” Hasimoto corrected, “Least, that’s how I do it. I guess you could try doing it the other way round if you wanted…”

“No, no! I’d rather get the recipe written down exactly as _you_ do it!” Kiyotaka assured him as he crossed out the mistake… Only to immediately realise he’d accidentally said _that word_ again.

“Dude… I _told_ you…!” And right on cue, Hasimoto started acting defensive about it, _again…_ “I didn’t _use_ a…”

“I’m not saying you did!” Kiyotaka lost his patience. “But a recipe isn’t some… fancy thing that only high-end chefs can produce! It’s literally just written notes about how someone cooks a specific food! So while _you_ might not have followed a recipe to make this, _I_ will be, because I liked _your_ cooking enough to bother writing down _your_ method so I can recreate it in the future! Alright!?”

“Uhh… sure.” Hasimoto agreed, though Kiyotaka couldn’t tell if he’d actually understood that Kiyotaka wasn’t accusing him of something, or if he just wanted Kiyotaka to stop shouting and calm down. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked to do this while he was still aching from yesterday… “Anyway, once I’ve done those layers, I do the same layers again in the same order…”

“Ah… right…” Either way, it looked like they were just going to carry on with breakfast as they had been before.

“Then once it’s done we’ve just gotta cover the pan and cook it for… about 45 minutes or so.” Hasimoto finished, putting a lid on the pan but pushing it off to the side instead of over the fire.

“Errmm… then why aren’t you…?”

“’Cause I gotta make another _seven_ of these things!” Hasimoto laughed, gesturing at the pile of pans and food he’d left untouched. “And it’s usually easier to cook ‘em all at the same time, rather than only make enough for _five_ of ‘em at a time…”

“I see!” Kiyotaka made a note of that, although he didn’t expect to ever need to cook more than one of these at a time. Even _five_ servings per dish seemed a bit much, although he supposed it’d be good for leftovers, or if he cooked for more of his friends. Sakura would probably like all the protein in this, and Makoto would usually eat anything with melted cheese on it…

“So… that’s all you need to know to make it yourself.” Hasimoto interrupted his thoughts.

“Ah, good!” Kiyotaka put away his pencil, and left the notebook open to his side so he could look at it. “I can practise making some myself, then!”

“Uhh… sure, if ya wanna…” Hasimoto gave him that same ‘why is the teacher’s friend helping clean the classroom?’ look that a lot of the gang had been giving him recently, but still passed over one of the pans and some of the other ingredients…

It was all reasonably easy, aside from him possibly overcooking the bacon a little on one side the first time (although Hasimoto insisted that there were several people in the gang who would insist that it was better like that, and he’d aim to make sure they got that pan). He could see how doing the same thing eight times in one morning would make you want to start experimenting with small variations, but Hasimoto hadn’t mentioned anything like that to Kiyotaka, so if he was going to find out when the best time to add something like herbs to the dish would be, he’d have to risk asking about it…

“Err… so… not that _you_ do this…” Kiyotaka started, in the hope of avoiding another argument, “But… If _I_ was to decide I’d like to try adding something like… salt, or pepper… or curry powder to this, when do you think would be the best time to do that?”

“You wanna add that curry powder!?” Hasimoto gaped at him, “You were the one who wimped outta eating it before!”

“Well, obviously I wouldn’t add as much you did!” Kiyotaka pointed out, “And if I _did_ it would probably be more for _Mondo’s_ benefit, rather than my own…”

“…You think the boss’d like that?” Hasimoto asked, “’Cause I’ve still got some of that stuff…”

“Errg…” Mondo would probably like _some_ curry powder, but not as much as Hasimoto had added before! But how to say that without insulting him or admitting that Mondo wasn’t as good at handling spicy food as he liked his gang to think he was…? “Well… He and Yukimaru might like it, but there’d still be three other people who need to eat from that pan, so maybe it’d be better if you just put in a _little_ this time, seeing as no one else finished it…”

“Alright. I’d just add a little to show you when I usually… I mean… How I think it’d be best to do it!” Hasimoto paused as he reached into his coat pocket for some curry powder, “But if the boss or Yukimaru complain that it’s not enough, I’m telling ‘em _you_ were the one who said not to add as much!”

Well… he was sure _Mondo_ wouldn’t complain, but Yukimaru might be somewhat less pleased about it. Hopefully he wouldn’t be petty enough to hold it against him, though…

“Alright, then…” Kiyotaka agreed, and then reached for his notebook as Hasimoto explained that he’d ~~normally add some of the~~ _guess it would be best to_ add some of the ~~herbs~~ _curry powder_ to the bacon while frying it and then sprinkle a bit extra on top of both of the layers of potato…

A short while later, the pair of them were sat in front of the fires, watching the eight pans slowly cooking away in silence…

“So… you wanna be a chef when you’re done with school?”

“Who… _me!?_ No! I’m planning to become a politician! _”_ The question caught Kiyotaka by surprise. “Err… What made you think I wanted to be a chef?”

“You said you wanted to try to learn to cook more recipes…” Hasimoto shrugged, “Figured you were planning to become a chef.”

“Ah… No, I’d just like to be able to look after myself when I leave school! Without having to rely on convenience food- or just eat the same things over and over…” Not that he really minded eating the same things every day. He’d been doing it most of his life! But he knew Mondo liked a bit more variety, and he had to admit trying new foods on occasion had been quite fun, especially when he cooked them with friends… “It is fun to cook though, sometimes! Finding new recipes, discovering flavours I enjoy… Even learning how to try and fix the odd disaster can be interesting… or at least give me a story to tell afterwards…!”

“Heh… Yeah… it’s nice just to know you can _make_ something to eat, even when no one else can be bothered with you.” Hasimoto had a slightly more… sombre reason for it. “And it sure as fuck beats cleaning clothes!”

“Err… Actually, I’ve always preferred laundry to cooking, myself…” Kiyotaka admitted, much to the other boy’s confusion. “I know that’s unusual, but I find there just something oddly satisfying about getting rid of all of the stains and creases in the fabric!”

 _“Pffft…”_ Haismoto stifled a laugh, as Kiyotaka started to wonder if perhaps that had been admitting too much, “Don’t politician’s get all that stuff done _for_ ‘em, ‘cause they’re all rich or some shit? Why don’t you just become a maid instead, if you like cleaning and cooking?”

“Well, for starters, I’d _like_ to make it so the people running the country aren’t all so rich and entitled that it’s considered normal for them to have someone to do all their cooking, cleaning and tidying up! That way _maybe_ they’ll have enough empathy to try and make things better for the people who _do_ do those things!” Kiyotaka argued, “And besides… just because I like doing something doesn’t mean I’m planning to make a living out of it! I mean… are _you_ thinking of cooking for a living?”

“…” Hasimoto looked away from him for a moment…

“Ah…!? Wait… you _are,_ aren’t you!?” Kiyotaka realised, “Even though you’ve said this entire time that you’re not planning to be a chef!”

“Shut up! I ain’t thinking of being a chef!” The other boy snapped, then crossed his arms and grumbled on. “But… there’s those guys who sell food outta vans in the city… you know?”

“Err… I’ve _heard_ of them.” Kiyotaka vaguely remembered some of his friends talking about it “They sell candy floss, donuts and ice cream, right?”

“Eh, some of ‘em do. But then there’s guys who make like… kebabs, or burgers, or noodles.” Hasimoto explained, “Like… they’ve got one simple thing they can cook over and over and sell to people. Maybe they’ve got a few different things like toppings or sauces they can switch out, but otherwise it’s just normal, simple stuff. Not like that fancy bullshit restaurants serve!”

“Ah… I see!” Hmm… From what Kiyotaka had seen, that sort of work might suit him quite well… so long as it didn’t trigger whatever issue he had about _chefs._ “So, are you thinking you could sell _this_ food to people?” Kiyotaka gestured to the food they were cooking.

“I’d thought about it, but this takes too long to cook. I’d either have to guess what people were gonna buy, or expect ‘em to stand around for forty-five minutes.” Hasimoto shrugged, “I dunno what else I could do instead… all that other stuff is already easy to get a hold of…”

“Hmm… yes, if you wanted to try and get a loan to help set up a new business, you’d probably have to come up with an idea that’s unique, to help make you stand out from other competition in the market…” Kiyotaka agreed, spouting off business advice without even thinking about it. Togami must be rubbing off on him! “Err… But, if you can’t think of anything, perhaps you could ask your friends for suggestions? There must be some types of foods _they’d_ like…”

“You mean the gang!?” Hasimoto asked, “I dunno… I don’t want ‘em worrying that I’m planning to quit and get a real job anytime soon…”

 _What would be wrong with that!?_ Urgh… Never mind! Whatever the issue was, he wasn’t likely to talk him out of it, so he’d have to find a way to work around it, like with Kino… “Well, you wouldn’t necessarily have to _tell_ them you’re looking for ideas to make for a living. What if you just asked them if there are any dishes they’d _like_ to eat, but can’t get hold easily? Then you could look up some recipes for them online, and…”

“Haven’t got internet.” Hasimoto interrupted him. “Unless the old man sobers up long enough to pay his bills, anyway…”

“Oh…” Kiyotaka had had to deal with amenities being shut off on occasion… but at least it hadn’t been because his father was too _drunk_ to deal with it…

“…Got any _more_ ideas?” The boy cut him off just as Kiyotaka was opening his mouth to commiserate him. Presumably because he didn’t _want_ commiserations right now…

“Err… Well, there’s probably recipe books at the library! And maybe even internet access, as well!” Kiyotaka realised, only for the boy to give him a sceptical look. Oh, right. ‘Tough guys don’t go to libraries!’ “And if you don’t want to be seen voluntarily going to a library, you can tell them _I_ sent you to get some cookery books because _I_ want to learn some new recipes… And you can even tell them the idea of cooking whatever food _they_ want is actually _my_ idea, and you’re just watching me to make sure I don’t mess up! That way _you_ can get an idea of how practical it would be without everyone then expecting you to cook their favourites on demand from now on!”

The other boy didn’t say anything, but he seemed to be thinking about it, at least…

“’EEEEYYY! HASI…!” Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to try and convince him any further, as several the gang all came out of their tents and made a beeline straight towards them both, presumably drawn to the smell of the food. A shame that they’d have to tell them there was still another fifteen minutes left before it was ready!

* * *

 _“EEEEYYY! HASI…!”_ Aww _Fuck!_ Was it that time already…? He’d havta try and get up and throw some clothes on, already…

 _Gah!_ Fuck Ishimaru and his shitty sword! It was hurting every time he fucking moved his arms! And his face still ached too! And it was a Monday, so he was gonna have everyone at school asking what the fuck had happened to him, wasn’t he? Fucking dammit…

Still, least he could say he’d fucked Ishimaru up worse than him! The guy had been wincing so bad, he'd almost started cry a few times last night! At least the guys could see _Takemichi_ wasn’t gonna be a total wimp about this, like _that!_

“Hey, Michi? You alright in there?” What the fuck!? Okay, he was getting up a bit slower than normal, but why the hell was Mondo coming to check on him!? “I wanted to chat ‘bout some things.”

“Gimme a sec, I’m just getting dressed…” He quickly threw on a school uniform. Good thing the long sleeves would stop everyone from seeing the purple splotches that had spread all over his shoulders… “Right, you can come in.”

“Thanks.” Mondo quickly ducked into the tent, cringing as he looked at Takemichi’s face and crouched down next to him. Guess it looked as bad as it felt… “So, uhh… how’re you doing?”

“I’m good.” He shrugged… _fuck,_ he shouldn’t have shrugged! “So, what did you wanna talk about?”

“Uhh… _that!_ ” Mondo answered, looking more worried as Takemichi grit his teeth. “I wanted to see how you’re doing…”

“What? You just wanted to say ‘Hi’?” The hell was with Mondo this morning? “Did you think I’m planning to spent the whole day in bed? You coulda just waited ‘till I got up and asked me then!”

“What? No! I ain’t just here to say ‘Hi’!” Mondo cried, “I… I wanted to make sure you’re alright after yesterday. That shit looked like it hurt!”

He was worried about him ‘cause of that fight? Why the hell was he worried about that!? “Of course I’m alright… you saw me walking around all evening after it, didn’t you? And you know I’ve had worse than this!”

“Yeah, but…” Mondo let out a sigh, “I ought to have checked if you were alright those times, too…”

“Why?” He _had_ been alright all those times! He didn’t need people checking on him… “It’s not like I need a hospital, or something.”

“Yeah, but… it’s still _hurting_ you, right?” Mondo asked, “Be honest with me.”

“I… I guess I’m a bit sore in places.” He’d give Ishimaru _that_ much credit.

“Right, so… maybe you could use a bit more help from me than usual, today.” Mondo suggested, “Or maybe a day off school, or something…”

“What? ‘Cause _Ishimaru_ beat me up!?” There was no way he was gonna let everyone think that nerd had actually _won_ the damn fight! It was bad enough he’d overheard people calling it a _draw!_ “Fuck that! He didn’t hurt me _that_ bad!”

“You sure…?”

“Yeah, I’m sure!” He snapped at Mondo’s worried look… “’Sides, I bet _he_ isn’t gonna spend the day resting up and letting you help him out! Is he…?”

“ _Haaah…_ No.” Mondo admitted, “I mean, he _oughta!_ But he’d already left the tent and started helping Hasimoto with the breakfast before I even woke up…”

“I figured as much… so there’s no way in hell _I’m_ gonna, either!”

“Shoulda known…” Mondo sighed, “You guys are still treating this like it’s a competition…”

“A competition? Like I’ll get some prize at the end if I win?” Was that how Mondo thought he was thinking about this? Like he’d only picked a fight with Ishimaru ‘cause he was trying to win Mondo back, or something stupid like that? “That ain’t what I’m doing! I just know I ain’t gonna lose a fight to a damn _nerd!_ Even if he _is_ being fucking stubborn about it!”

“Right… That’s what I meant. He doesn’t know when to quit, and you can’t just let him win.” Mondo explained, “And I _get_ that, but I also don’t wanna see you two trying to beat the shit outta each other again!”

“So, you’re telling me to refuse to get in a fight with him?” That’s why Mondo had come to check on him! He wanted to ask him to lay off his boyfriend, next time…

“Maybe. Or you could let him set some rules about where you can hit each other, or something.” Mondo shrugged, “Just… _something_ to stop you going as far as you did yesterday? Alright?”

Well, it wasn’t like he actually _meant_ to end up beating the shit outta the guy, yesterday. He’d been expecting to knock the guy on his ass _once_ and then get an answer to his question, not to have to deal with Ishimaru upping his game like that! But he didn’t want anyone thinking he was wimping out by asking for Ishimaru to tone it down, either… “Alright… If he wants to set some rules, I’ll follow ‘em, seeing as he’s your friend and all...”

“Thanks, Michi.” Mondo looked relieved, “Anyway, that was everything I wanted to talk about, so how’s about we go eat?”

“Sure.” Guess Mondo was pretty sure that Ishiamru _would_ wanna set rules, next time they fought. Or maybe _he’d_ been the one to ask Mondo to have this conversation in the first place. That might explain why Mondo had started off by asking if he was alright. Ishimaru seemed like the sort who’d ask that if you got a damn _papercut!_

“Oh, but, hey!” Mondo suddenly stopped, as he was halfway out of the tent. “If there’s _anything_ I can do to help you out today, lemme know. Alright?”

“Uhh, sure?” Or maybe not… That sure seemed like something Mondo had decided to ask by him. “I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks.” Mondo nodded, like he hadn’t just been offering to do Takemichi a favour, and headed out of the tent.

Man… he still seemed to be having some weird moods! Still… Ishimaru _had_ said he didn’t have anything that was gonna kill him. Maybe it just made him act a bit odd, at times…?

“Uhh… Hey, Michi?” Mondo musta realised he wasn’t following him.

“I’m coming! Just had to grab some stuff 'cause _someone_ came to talk while I was getting ready for school!” He lied, quickly grabbing his school bag in case Mondo called him on it.

“Ah, right! Sorry ‘bout that!” Mondo laughed, as Takemichi stepped out of the tent and started walking over to the crowd of guys that had formed around Hasimoto and Ishimaru, who parted to let them through as soon as they saw them coming.

“Good morninnnnggh…” Ishimaru’s annoyingly cheerful greeting stalled out once he’d stopped looking at Mondo and saw the state of his own face. “Ah… I caught your _eye?_ I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise what I was…”

“You already apologised yesterday.” Takemichi reminded him, “No need to go on about it.”

“Err… right! I suppose you’d rather I just not do it again, yes?” Huh, guess the guy had actually been listening to him, yesterday. “Still, it’s a good thing Mondo stopped me when he did... I might have done something I’d regret if he hadn’t…”

The hell was he trying to say!? That the only reason Takemichi wasn’t in a hospital bed or something was ‘cause _Mondo_ had saved him!? “I’d say you mean Mondo stopped _both_ of us.”

“Well, yes. I suppose he did.” Ishimaru admitted, “But, given I had you pinned at the time…”

“I’d have gotten outta that if Mondo hadn’t turned up!” Just ‘cause his _first_ attempt to get out hadn’t worked didn’t mean he wouldn’t have come up with _something!_

“Really?” Ishimaru looked sceptical. “How?”

Motherfucker! Calling him out like that in front of the _whole gang!_ “I ain’t telling you that! How’d I know you’re not thinking of using it yourself!?”

“Err… Why would that…?”

“Anyway, I gotta eat before I go to school!” There’s no way Ishimaru could have an excuse to keep the conversation going after _that!_ “Sooo…”

“Oh, right!” Just like he’d planned, the mention of school spurred the nerd into action, as he headed back towards the fires, rather than the pile of food next to him. “We made you and Mondo a special batch! I’ll go get it!”

‘A special batch’!? What the hell was that supposed to be? Some sort of failed attempt from Ishimaru?

“You trying out something new, Hasi?” Mondo seemed to be giving it more credit.

“Ehh… It’s more Ishimaru’s idea.” Damnit! He knew it! “’Cept, y’know, ‘cause it’s _him,_ it ain’t really all _that_ different from normal, so don’t get excited or anything…”

Not that different? So maybe it wasn’t all that bad, then? It certainly didn’t look like a disaster when Ishimaru came back with the pot and dished up two plates of food.

…He still waited for Mondo to take the first bite, though.

“Hmmm… _mmm!”_ Huh… the guy actually looked happy about it, and he wasn’t _that_ good at faking when he thought something tasted crap. “You used the curry powder!”

Wait… really!? So it was gonna taste like that curry from last week!? That’d be fucking awesome!

“Yes!” Ishimaru grinned, as he dug his hand in and quickly blew on it to cool. “I thought as you two had like that curry Hasimoto made, we could try adding some of it to this!”

“Yeah… You’re right! This is great!” Mondo smiled back at him, as he took another bite at the same time as Takemichi…

…Damn… Well, this was a let down! He could _kinda_ taste the curry flavour, but it was hardly any different from normal…

“So… what do you think?” Ishimaru asked…

 _Urrghh!_ Of course! _He’d_ made it, so he musta been too much of a wimp to put a decent amount in! Well, he wouldn’t usually be this blunt, but given Ishimaru had been bitching about Hasimoto’s cooking… “I think ya shoulda put more powder in. I can barely taste it.”

“R-really!?” Ishimaru gaped at him, “Well… I’ll keep that in mind if I ever make something for you, again!”

“Why _would_ you?” Hell, why had the guy even made _this!?_ Unless… dammit! This was all ‘cause _he’d_ told the guy he had no right to be bitching about Hasimoto’s cooking unless he tried it himself, wasn’t it!? So now he was acting all smug ‘cause Mondo was pretending to like the one tiny thing he’d tried changing!

“Ah… Well, I d…”

“Ishimaru’s been saying he might try cooking us all something, sometime! So he can practise something new, that we can’t get anywhere nearby!” Hasimoto cut off the guy… So, not only was he getting smug over adding some damn _powder_ to something Hasimoto had made, he’d also spent the morning bragging that he was gonna impress everyone by making something completely new for ‘em all!? “Right, Ishimaru!?”

“Errrg...!? Y-yes! Yes, I did say I was thinking I could do that!” Ishimaru stammered as Takemichi glared at him. “Although… I don’t know exactly _what_ I’d make, so I thought maybe I could ask everyone for suggestions before promising anything…? P-preferably something simple, and of course something that can be made out here…”

Hah! So, in other words, he’d been all talk about this when he didn’t even have an idea _what_ to do, and now it was _his_ turn to get called out on it!

“Hey! What about pancakes!?” But it was pretty short-lived, ‘cause Mondo bailed him out with an idea straight away. “I know you’ve made ‘em before, but you said you’d probably need more practise to get ‘em right. And I _know_ there’s nowhere near here that makes em…”

“Oooh… _yeah!”,_ “Pancakes!”, “Been ages since I had those…” It sounded like half the gang thought it’d be a good idea…

“Err… I’m not sure that’d be a good idea… They each take two minutes to cook, remember!?” But, Ishimaru was still panicking, “Making three pancakes each for forty people would takes _hours!_ There’s no way I’d get it done before you all had to go to school!”

“Well… couldn’t you do it at the weekend, then?” Mondo either couldn’t think of another idea for the guy, or he just _really_ wanted pancakes… And knowing Mondo, he probably _did_ just want the pancakes, didn’t he…?

“Yeah! The weekend!”, “Pancake Saturday!” From the way the rest of the gang were agreeing with him, so did everyone _else!_ And now it’d been mentioned, they might have a riot on their hands if Ishimaru _didn’t_ go ahead with this stupid idea of his!

“Ah… I’m still not sure it’d be practical to do, all by myself…” But, of course the guy was trying to squirm his way outta it!

This was gonna be such a fucking pain to sort out, now… He _could’ve_ suggested a road-trip over to the nearest pancake place, but Mondo wasn’t allowed to leave the campsite and he’d be pissed if everyone _but_ him got to have pancakes, but how the hell _else_ were they gonna make pancakes for forty guys at once!?

“Well… I could help out. That’d halve the amount of time, right?” Hasimoto offered. Like the guy didn’t already do enough for all of them! “And if we each get a few pans going at once, it’d cut the time down more than just having one pan each…”

“Yeah!”, “Woo, Hasi!” The gang all cheered, either not realising or not _caring_ that they’d basically let Ishimaru force the guy into volunteering for _his_ stupid idea…

“Oh…? You think, so!? Well, if you think it’d work…” Ishimaru finally relented, “We’ll have to discuss what recipe we’ll use… maybe if you could check at the library if cooking pancakes on a campfire is different to making them on a normal stove?”

“Sure! I’ll check after school…” So, now Hasimoto had more work to do. Man, Takemichi was really gonna have to find some way to thank the guy for this…!

And he was gonna have to find some to knock it through Ishimaru’s thick skull that he should quit trying to act like he was better than everyone here! Maybe he really _should_ pick up a weapon to use on the guy. He could check out some action movies and see what looked like a good one to try…

* * *

(Tuesday October 2nd 2012)

“So, if there’s _forty_ of us, we’ll need… forty eggs, 2 kilograms of flour, and six litres of milk… Plus some butter to fry them in…” Hmm… even with them choosing to use a simpler, crepe-like recipe, that was still a _lot_ of food to buy!

“Wow… This is gonna be cheap as hell!” Not that Hasimoto seemed to be worried about it… “Even if I get a bit extra to be safe, it’s still gonna only be about three thousand yen!”

“That still seems like a lot…” Especially as this was just for breakfast…

“For _forty_ of us!? That’s practically nothing!” Ah… when he put it like _that,_ it was more reasonable! “’Specially compared to how much you’d pay if you go out for ‘em…”

“Hmm… well, those places probably have to worry about paying for the building and all the staff and making a profit!” Kiyotaka pointed out. _They_ didn’t have to worry about any of that! And not to mention, there was one other thing they weren’t doing… “And they probably offer toppings on the pancakes as well!”

“Toppings…? Shit! I didn’t even think about that!” Hasimoto swore.

“Well… do we really need to? We’re already going to be doing quite a lot…”

“Of course we need toppings, that’s the whole _point_ of pancakes!” The biker insisted, “Besides, ain’t you ever seen how the boss eats his?”

“Mondo…? Hmm… Last time I made them, he smothered one with butter, sugar and maple syrup and doused the other with chocolate sauce…” Kiyotaka remembered worrying that he was going to rot his teeth eating them! “But I thought he’d only _that_ because I overcooked them…”

“Nah, he always does that… so we’ll need some extra butter, some sugar… I can get a bunch of difference sauces and syrups so everyone can pick what they want…” He thought about it, “Is there anything else people usually put on pancakes?”

“Well… I liked bananas and blueberries on mine!” He seemed to want more suggestions than that… “I think a few of our friends put bacon on them… Hina added some chocolate chips and candy… Sakura put some peanut butter and nuts on one of hers…”

“Huh… candy’d probably be popular. So would bacon, but we’d need someone else to cook it…” That was unfortunate, it seemed like he was going to completely ignore all of Kiyotaka’s healthier suggestions... “And I guess I can pick up some fruit and nuts and see if anyone other than you tries ‘em…”

“Oh, err… Thank you!” Had he really wanted to do that, or was it just because Kiyotaka had been upset? “But, you don’t have to get something just for me, I’d be alright having them plain…”

“I know, but if I wanna do this as a job, I’d probably get people wanting that stuff, right?” Hasimoto pointed out. “Better to get as many ideas as I can now, right?”

“I suppose so…” As long as he really _wasn’t_ doing it just for Kiyotaka’s sake. “Perhaps we should try asking a few different people what they’d like then? We could say it was just so we have an idea of how much of each thing we’ll need to get for Saturday.”

“Yeah… good idea! I can do that over the next couple of days, and try to get someone to cook some bacon while I’m at it!” Hasimoto nodded, standing up to leave.

“Err… by yourself? Are you sure?” He’d been thinking it would give him an excuse to talk to some people! “I can help if you need it…”

“Nah… don’t worry about it! You’ll be helping enough on Saturday!” Hasimoto insisted, “You alright to talk again Thursday morning?”

“Of course!” He’d agreed to help with this, after all!

“Great! See ya!” Hasimoto walked off, hopefully to go to school, and not to spend the whole day planning what types of pancakes they’d make at the weekend…

He really hoped Yukimaru had been too preoccupied talking to Mondo to have heard any of _that_ conversation! He’d looked irritated enough with Kiyotaka yesterday when Hasimoto had ‘volunteered’ to ‘help’ cook all the pancakes, and then again when he’d come over and asked to discuss what ingredients they’d need. Goodness knows what he’d think if he thought Kiyotaka was also making him do a bunch of extra work researching topping ideas, and recruiting even _more_ members of the gang to help with ‘his’ idea, on top of that!

Especially as he’d hardly ended up doing any chores, yesterday. He’d planned to, but then Mondo had insisted that helping with breakfast had been enough, and he should rest up after his fight, which admittedly _had_ been a good idea, but it probably wasn’t making him popular with everyone else here, and he’d hardly managed to talk to any of them as it was! Not without insulting them, anyway…

 _Ah!_ That reminded him, he still needed to apologise to Mitsukuni about the pokémon cards! It’d been a whole _week,_ and he’d not said anything about it to _him!_ And he couldn’t just _not_ apologise, even if Yukimaru didn’t think it was worth doing…

And as luck would have it, the boy was just about to finish his own breakfast, and didn’t seem to be talking to anyone at the moment! Kiyotaka could probably go over and quickly ask if they could talk in private for a while…

“Excuse me… Mitsukuni?”

“Uhh… yeah?” The boy anxiously swallowed the chunck of food he’d bitten off as Kiyotaka came over to talk to him, presumably Yukimaru hadn’t mentioned that Kiyotaka had been intending to apologise to him.

“I was wondering if we could talk in private?” He tried asking, although it just made him look _more_ worried about Kiyotaka… “I wanted to apologise for last week.”

“Oh! Uhh… That’s alright. I mean, I _told_ you I’d stolen ‘em, so can’t really blame you for getting pissed at me…” The boy muttered, checking around him to make sure no one was listening in. “But, when you told the boss… Did he really know about ‘em already?”

Ah… so Yukimaru must have told him Mondo knew about the cards! “Err… yes, he did. He said he hadn’t mentioned it because he hadn’t wanted to embarrass you by bringing it up when you were clearly trying to keep it a secret…”

“Yeah… That’s what Takemichi said, too…” He turned away from Kiyotaka, so it was hard to tell _what_ he was thinking, but he looked somewhat disappointed about it all. Not that Kiyotaka had any idea what to say to him, this was petering out faster than his old middle school conversations… “Were you serious ‘bout wanting to play a game?”

“Oh… Yes! Yes I was serious about that!” That would be the perfect chance to talk to… _one_ person, at least! “Do you know the rules…?”

“No, but I might be able to print ‘em off at the library…” Wait, he was willing to go to the library about this!? “Kino was saying he got some comics from there, so I figured I’d see what they had.”

“Oh, well, as long as they’re not too complicated to learn, I should be able to pick it up from a rulebook!” At least, he hoped he would! At the very least he’d be able to reread parts if he didn’t understand them first time, so long as it was quiet enough! “If you get me the rules today, I can read them this evening and we could try playing a game tomorrow?”

“Yeah… sounds good!” Mitsukuni nodded, popped the last of his food into his mouth and stood up to leave, leaning in conspiratorially to Kiyotaka at the same time… “Meet me in the carpark, same time as last week!”

“Alright!” Kiyotaka nodded quietly and watched as he left, along with Yukimaru and most of the rest of the gang…

…Which left him again with the question of what he should do now! Really, he ought to find _something_ useful to do, after spending most of yesterday studying! But his stomach and arms _were_ still sore from two days ago, and he was sure Mondo had noticed. Which would mean he wouldn’t be about to let Kiyotaka do anything that involved lots of moving about, like the laundry or washing up.

But there weren’t many chores that he could do sitting down, either! Ironing might have been an option, if there _was_ an iron here! But Mondo had laughed at him for asking about that the first time he’d been teaching Kiyotaka about camping. He’d even thought Kiyotaka was being unnecessarily over-prepared when he’d pack a few needles and spools of thread, in case any of his clothes got damaged and needed patching up…

Ah! Perhaps _that_ was something he could do! After all, he’d seen several pieces of clothing that needed repairing _last_ week, even if all of _his_ were still intact! Yes! He’d go get his sewing supplies out of his suitcase now, and then by the time he’d done that whoever was on laundry duty this today would have started and he could ask them to pass along any damaged items of clothing and…

“Uh oh…” He barely noticed that his route back to the tent passed just by his boyfriend, until Mondo gingerly stopped him with a hand on his shoulder… “Taka, what’re you thinking of doing!?”

“Sewing!” Kiyotaka explained, only for Mondo to stare at him blankly… “I can help out by fixing people’s clothes!”

“Uhh… I guess that’d be easy on you…” Mondo hesitantly took his hand off of his shoulder, “But… you ain’t _gotta_ help us out, you kn…”

“Nonsense! I spent most of yesterday sat around reading!” Kiyotaka reminded him.

“Only _after_ you helped make breakfast for everyone!” Mondo reminded him back.

“Ah…” That was true, but… “I’d still rather do something to help, today!”

“Urrgghh… You ain’t taking no for an answer, are you?” Mondo groaned at him. “Alright, fine! At least ya picked something that’ll keep you out of trouble…”

‘Keep him out of _trouble’…!?_ “Well, of course I did! It’s not like I’m some kind of hoodlum!”

 _“Sure_ you ain’t!” Mondo rolled his eyes at him and smirked… “All you did was get yourself hurt… What, _twice?_ In _four_ days…!?”

“You know darn well I didn’t start _either_ of those!” Kiyotaka argued, although it sounded petty the moment he said it…

“Yeah, but you didn’t exactly act like an adult and _stop_ either of ‘em, did you?” Mondo asked, then started laughing as Kiyotaka realised the answer to that was _‘no’… “Bahahaha!”_

“Well… it’s probably because you and your gang is rubbing off on me!”

“Hahaha! Yeah, I know, I ain’t one to talk…” Mondo chuckled, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t wanna keep an eye on you, you know…?”

“I know…” Presumably, it was only natural to be worried about someone who was in pain, no matter how slight. “Why do you think I decided to sit and sew today, in the first place!?”

“I figured it was ‘cause you’re a dork.” Mondo teased, “But thanks, anyway… Now, you go get your sewing stuff ready, and I’ll go get the guys doing laundry to find some clothes that need fixing up…”

“Ah… But...!” He’d meant to talk to them himself! But Mondo had wandered off before he could say anything!

Still, it was too late now. He’d just have to get on with the sewing and see if he could get a chance to talk to someone else in the gang afterwards…

…

 _“Tch!”_ Several fixed shirts and trousers later, Kiyotaka tutted as he failed to thread a needle for the fifth time in a row. Maybe he should have invested in some of those self-threading needles he’d heard about, but it had hardly seemed worth it for the few amount of jobs he’d have ever used them for in normal circumstances!

Right now though, when Mondo was watching him slowly try to fix the pile of things he’d delivered, it was embarrassing that it was taking him so long to do this each time. Especially as another one of the gang had also turned up and started watching him for the last five minutes! Probably waiting for him to fix a particular piece of clothing…

“Is there something in here you need back quickly…?” Kiyotaka looked up and asked him, and immediately recognised the scarf the boy was wearing… “…Umeki?”

“What? No…” Umeki turned away, as if he hadn’t been staring at him the whole time, “I just wondered why you don’t just lick the thread.”

 _“What!?”_ And get his spit all over it!? When it wasn’t even _his_ clothes he was fixing!? “Why on Earth would I want to _lick_ something that’s going in other people’s clothes!? It’s not like I want to get saliva all over their…”

“I don’t mean do the whole thing! I just saying you should suck the tip a little!” Umeki snapped at him, although that still didn’t explain _why!?_ “It’s goes in easier when it’s _wet!”_

Wait… was he talking about the needle!? It would be easier to thread if he wet the end of the cotton, first…? Well… he might as well try it… although from the way Mondo was stifling a laugh in his peripheral vision, he was starting to wonder if the pair of them were playing some kind of prank on him…

He quickly popped the last centimetre or so of the thread onto his tongue and then tried to line it up with the eye of the needle again… only for it to go through straight away!

 _“Oh!_ It really _did_ help to get it wet, first!” Unless he’d just got lucky that one time, he’d have to try it out again later. And perhaps he’d be able to use a glass of _clean_ water, rather than his own _spit..._

 _“PPTHTFFPT! Bahahaha…”_ But… if it _was_ sound advice, then why was Mondo suddenly laughing? Umeki didn’t seem to think it was funny! In fact, he looked shocked at Mondo’s response!

Perhaps only Mondo thought it was a joke? In which case, he’d better explain that it wasn’t! “No, Mondo, look! I got it in on the first try!”

 _“HAAAAAH! BAHAHAHAHA…!”_ That only made Mondo laugh all the harder…

“Wh…what’s so fucking funny!” And now Umeki seemed to be annoyed at him, for some reason! “I... I only know that ‘cause of my _girlfriend,_ you know! N-not like _you’d…”_

 _“Pahahaha!_ Goddamnit, you guys are killing me!” Mondo was laughing so hard he was practically banging on the ground, and could barely talk. “What’re you gonna say next!? ‘That’s what _she_ said’!?”

“Eh…!?” Umeki seemed just as confused by this as Kiyotaka was!

What did he mean ‘That’s what she said’? That wasn’t particularly funny, was it…? It certainly hadn’t been humorous that time Leon had decided to misconstrue everything Kiyotaka had said as some kind of sexual referen…

 _“Oh for goodness sake!”_ Alright, he supposed they _had_ said a few things that could also have been said if they’d been talking about sex instead, but… “It’s not _that_ funny, Mondo!”

“Bahaha… b-but you guys were so fucking _serious!”_ Mondo’s laughs got quieter, although Kiyotaka couldn’t tell if that was because he was calming down, or just running out of breath.

“What…?” And poor Umeki still didn’t understand what was going on!

“Oh… just ignore him!” Kiyotaka advised, as he picked up the shirt on his lab and found the hole he’d been about to stitch closed… “Otherwise he’ll keep turning everything we say into some kind of childish sex joke!”

 _“pFft!”_ Mondo snorted with laughter again, as if to prove his point.

“Y-you mean… You were just laughing ‘cause…” Umeki finally seemed to understand, “’C-cause… _heh…_ ‘Cause I said ta… And then _he… He… Heh hehhehheh… HAHHAHHAHHAHAH…!”_

 _What!?_ Now _he_ was laughing as well!? And _him_ laughing had set Mondo off again…!

Honestly, he was never going to understand this gang! He’d be better off ignoring them and getting this done, otherwise he’d end up being late to his meeting with Mitsukuni!

* * *

(Wednesday October 3rd 2012)

 _Ngh…_ Why was it so bright in the tent this morning? Had he slept in again…?

Oh… No, it was just ‘cause Taka had got a torch out so he could read again… He’d been like that all evening, yesterday… He barely stuck around the gang long enough to eat dinner, then said he was tired and headed back to the tent, only for Mondo to get back in here and find him with his nose stuck in a bunch of papers several hours later!

Mondo had pointed out that he coulda just read outside if he’d wanted to, but Taka had just muttered something about not wanting the gang to see it, which was weird, ‘cause they’d all seen him reading a ton by now…

…Was he pissed about something? But Mondo had been with him pretty much the whole day, except when he’d gone off for his walk. And that’d been too short for any of the gang to upset him. Hell, _most_ of them had still been sat around Mondo laughing their asses off at all the jokes they’d ended up telling each other after hearing about that whole ‘just suck on the tip’ talk Umeki and Taka had…

 _Oh…_ fuck, what if _that_ was it? He knew Taka hadn’t found it funny, but he hadn’t seemed _that_ annoyed with it either… but with all _ten_ of the guys eventually coming over to see what they’d been laughing about, and joining in, it _might_ have got on his nerves… And Mondo hadn’t even _asked_ if he was alright listening to ‘em all make _those_ sorta jokes the whole time he was trying to sew their shit for them…

“Uhh… hey, Taka?” Bit late now, but he oughta apologise, right?

“Oh! Mondo! You’re awake! Good morning!” Huh… he… didn’t seem all that pissed off, though. Just made sure he put a finger on the book where he’d been reading. “The torch didn’t disturb you, did it?”

“Uhh… no it’s fine.” Shit… now he wasn’t sure if he needed to talk about yesterday at all! But he’d rather bring it up for no reason than piss of Taka even more by ignoring it… “But, I wanted to ask… Me and the guys, yesterday… did we make you uncomfortable at all?”

“Hmm…? Oh! Well, it did get a _little_ loud with all ten of you, but it wasn’t enough to cause me any problems!” Wait… did he think Mondo was just asking about the noise…? “And I _have_ got my earplugs with me, so if it _had_ been a problem I could have put them in!”

“Uhh… well, that’s good!” Good to know if they were gonna be having any loud parties as well… “But, I was talking more about us telling so many dirty jokes in front of you…”

“Err… _That?_ No. Not really?” Yeah, this really _hadn’t_ pissed him off. At least not that much. “I mean… it’s was a little annoying that you ended up talking to everyone when _I’ve_ been trying to find ways to have more conversations, but the jokes themselves weren’t the problem! It’s just the fact that _I_ don’t find them very funny, so I can’t really join in with them.”

Wait… he’d been trying to talk to more of the guys!? “But, if you’re trying to talk to the guys more, why’d you hole yourself up in here instead of trying to talk to them last night!?” Unless he’d been worried about having to hang around Michi, maybe? Which woulda sucked, ‘cause _he_ also left really early, yesterday…

“Oh! Because of _this!”_ Taka held up the book, so it really _was_ just him being a nerd… “Mitsukuni wants me to play a game with him today, so I need to learn the rules! But he also asked me not to show anyone else here this, because he doesn’t want them to know about it! That’s why I had to come in here so quickly!”

“Wait… He’s asked you to play a _game_ with him!? And even printed off the rules for it!?” Taka really didn’t get how big of a deal that was, did he? “Damn, that’s awesome! That’s probably the first time he’s ever talked about those cards with anyone else!”

“But… that’s only because _I_ spoke to him about them, first!” Taka argued.

“Well, maybe! But it still shows how well you’re starting to get on with the guys here, right? First it was Kino going to the library and Hasi admitting he’s been thinking about working in a food van, now Mitsu’s playing card games with you…” What _else_ was Taka probably gonna manage to do while he was here…? “Hell, at the rate you’re going, you might even get Umeki talking about his knitting!

“Well… I suppose I _am_ getting to know a few people here…” Taka smiled for a little moment… then turned serious. “But why are you expecting _me_ to do all of this!?”

“Eh?” Why would he ask that? “Whaddaya mean? You already _are_ doing it!”

“Yes, I’ll admit I’ve had a few conversations with certain members of your gang that have encouraged them to be more open about their hobbies with me!” Taka started, “But I’ve barely had _two_ conversations with Umeki, whereas you must have known him for years! Why do you think _I_ should be the one getting him to open up about his hobbies, and not _you?”_

“Well, ‘cause you’re someone from outside the gang! So it’s easier for him!” Taka didn’t look like he believed him. “Didn’t you see how he reacted yesterday, when he thought him giving you a sewing tip had made _me_ realise he liked sewing, or something!?”

“Yes, I saw that! But that was because he thought you were _laughing_ at him!” Taka pointed out, “It’d probably be easier than you think if you just tried to have a _normal_ conversation with him about it!”

Just have a normal conversation with him? Taka made it sound like it was fucking easy!

But… he hadn’t ever tried it before, had he? It might turn out easier than he thought, at least, if he did it in private and told the guy he wasn’t intending to make fun of him for it…

“Well…?”

“I’ll give it a try today, while you’re off playing your game or something…”

“Good!” Taka smiled, “Now I’m _almost_ done remembering all these advanced rules, so if you could let me finish reading while you do your hair, then we can go out to breakfast together…”

Giving Taka the time to read had ended up putting him in a good mood, at least until they’d ended up sitting next to Michi, who’d been in an absolutely _shitty_ one the whole time they ate, which then made Taka worried…

Was this _still_ just ‘cause of the fight on Sunday? He hadn’t seemed that bad yesterday morning, but then he’d disappeared off early last night and now _this…_ Maybe something had happened at school? Like he’d had the piss taken outta his eye, or something?

“Well, I gotta get to school…” Michi got up before he could ask about it, grunting as he lifted his bag onto his back.

“Uhh… see you later, then!” Mondo tried to give him a decent goodbye. Taka seemed to have decided to keep his mouth shut, for the moment…

“Ngh- _sure!_ See ya, Mondo!” Michi gritted his teeth as he stepped away…

Wait… Something was up with the way he was walking! “Hey… What happened to your leg!?”

“What!? Nothing’s _happened_ to it!” Michi snapped, sounding just annoyed enough to make it clear he didn’t want Mondo asking any other questions about it. “I was just sat on it too long!”

“Uhh… okay then.” No point saying anything other than that. Not like calling him out for lying would help, even if he _was_ lying… “Have a good day!”

“As good as it _can_ be…” Michi rolled his eyes and headed off, hiding his limp better than before, but not quite well _enough…_ Even Taka was watching him suspiciously!

Still, _him_ getting involved in whatever was up with the guy would be a fucking mess, so… “However he’s got hurt, it won’t help if you try and talk to him about it…”

“Hmm!? Oh! You think he really is hurt?” Taka looked surprised.

“Well, yeah… You really believed that shit about him sitting on his leg?” If that was the case... “Then why’re you glaring at him like that?”

“I was thinking it sounded like he’s got something odd in his bag.” What? How the hell had he noticed that!? “I was trying to see if I could see what it was…”

“Get any ideas?” It might be important to know, if Michi was still pissed off with Taka…

“No, not really.” Taka shook his head, “And I’m not even sure there _was_ anything, it might just have been his keys rattling.”

“Well… I’ll try and keep an eye on the guy, anyway…” He was up to _something,_ that was for sure! And speaking of guys who were up to something, why the hell was Mitsukuni staring at him and…!? Oh, _right._ “But for now, I think Mitsu’s ready for that game you promised him…”

“Hmm? But he’s just sat there!”

“Yeah, sat watching you like hawk!” Mondo pointed out, “He’s probably waiting for you to move somewhere private, then he’ll wait a few minutes and follow you.”

“Really!? All that for a card game!?” Taka sighed, “Oh well… I suppose I’ll see you sometime later then? I’m not sure how long these games will take…”

“Sure… I’ll come look for you if you’re not back in a couple of hours…” They shouldn’t need more than _that_ for a kids card game, right?

“Alright then!” Taka stood up, checking the time on his watch. “And remember what you told me _you’d_ try doing!

Oh, shit, yeah he’d said he’d try speaking to Umeki didn’t he…? “Uhh… right! I’ll uhh…” Damn, the guy was all by himself. This be a perfect time for it… “I’ll go do that now…”

“Good!” Taka smiled and looked around, then headed off towards a random clump of trees, leaving him by himself…

Guess he really oughta go try this, then. Not that it should be that big a deal, right? Like Taka said, it was just gonna be a normal conversation, wasn’t it? He’d just have to start by getting the guy to talk to him…

“Hey, Umeki? You got a minute?” Shit, was his voice getting louder? The guy looked real worried to see him. “I just talk wanna talk to you ‘bout something…”

“Uhh, sure, boss!” He gestured for Mondo to sit down next to him, and given there weren’t many other people nearby it should probably be quiet enough to just talk here… “So… what do you gotta talk about?”

“It’s about yesterday…” The guy cringed, “You know, I wouldn’t have laughed at you if you _had_ been able to give Taka that tip ‘cause _you_ knew how to sew, or _knit_ , or whatever, right?”

“What!?” Umeki tensed up, “What’re talking about!? I don’t…”

“Yeah, I _know,_ you’ve said!” Mondo tried to stop him from panicking, “I’m just saying… That ain’t something I’d laugh at a guy for doing, either. You know?”

“What, really? Even the _knitting!?_ ” Umeki’s head tilted, “Why not? That’s like… something _old ladies_ do!”

“Ehh… I guess. But, it’s still just _making_ things, right? There’s no reason to laugh at that, right?” Hell, if there _was,_ he’d have spent the last year being laughed at! “’Specially when it takes fucking ages to get good enough at it to make anything worthwhile in the first place…”

“How’d _you_ know?” Umeki asked, curiously. “Do _you_ knit!?”

“Urrg… No, I was just thinking about…” …Shit, did the other guys in the gang know he’d started woodwork? “Well, I started learning how to make stuff outta wood this last year. I just figured it must be similar for people learning to knit and stuff…”

“You make stuff outta _wood!?”_ Guess Michi had kept that all to himself, then… “You mean, that thing you gave the popstar chick really _was_ something you made yourself!?”

“Yeah!” What, he’d known about _that,_ but didn’t think Mondo had made it… “Whaddaya think I did, mug someone _else_ for that!?”

“Uhh… summat like that…?” Fucking hell, what kinda trash did his gang think he _was!?_ “But… so… if you make stuff outta wood, if we cut down one of these trees…?”

“I ain’t got my tools with me.” Which was probably a good thing, ‘cause he didn’t wanna see any of this lot try and cut down a fucking _tree!_ “’Sides, you’ve gotta use wood that’s had a couple of months to dry out, otherwise it warps and fucks up the shape of your stuff…”

“Damn…” Huh… guy really looked disappointed. Why _hadn’t_ he thought to bring any of his carpentry stuff? Taka had thought to bring a stack of books, but he’d not even _tried_ to think of anything he’d wanna do while he was away from the school! “Well… have you got any pictures of stuff you made, then?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I got a few…” He had a bunch of them that he’d saved on the phone Chi had given him for his birthday… that should still work without any signal, right? He’d just have to make sure he didn’t show anyone Taka’s bookends… Maybe start at the _end_ of the school year and go backwards… “This is a paperweight I made for Hiro… he’s into a lot of bullshit occult stuff, and I was kinda in a rush at the time, so I just picked some runes he’d said bring good luck and covered it with ‘em…”

“Wow…” Umeki looked impressed as he squinted at the phone screen, even though this wasn’t one of his best pieces at _all._ It was a shame he hadn’t been able to show of the bookends! But, the next best thing was…

“And _this_ is the one I made Maizono!” He took the phone back and changed the picture. “Honestly, that’s probably the best thing I’ve done…”

“Yeah… makes sense!” Umeki nodded as he looked at the screen. “Man… how’d you make all those tiny curves and details and stuff?”

“Really small chisels.” Well, it was a bit more complicated than that, but that was probably all _he_ needed to know.

“So, you’re just knocking off bits of wood to get it to look like that?” Umeki checked, “What happens if you fuck up and do too much?”

“Well… If I do that, then I either gotta start the whole thing over or live with it not being perfect!” And there’d been a lot of stuff not being perfect, that was for sure! It was a good thing his temper had improved…

“Damn… That sounds fucking awful!” Umeki cried, “Least _I_ can just unravel stuff until I get back to where I… _fucked up... Uhh…”_

Hah! He’d admitted it! Not on purpose, and he looked like he was about to try and pretend he _hadn’t,_ but he’d admitted it! ‘Course, it’d be better to keep him talking and not let him back outta it, so…

“But you still gotta do all the work you did after the mistake again?” At least, that’s what it’d sounded like he meant, “How long’s that take?”

“Uhh…?” Umeki stared at him cautiously, like he was waiting for Mondo to just start laughing at him, or worse. But eventually… “Depends how long it takes for me to notice that I messed up. Could be just a few stitches… but if I don’t spot it for several rows, and it’s something big, it can mean redoing something that took hours…”

“So you might spend hours doing something, then have to do the exact same thing again!? Man, that sucks!” At least when he messed up he could just make a fresh start and be doing something _else_ for a while, before he got back to the part that screwed him…

“Well… that’s kinda how knitting is?” Umeki shrugged, “Most of the time you’re doing the same few lines of pattern over and over until it’s big enough…”

“Oh… really?” Man, that sounded boring as shit! But if _he_ liked it… “You got any examples?”

“Uhh… well… There’s one thing.” Umeki looked around to see where the rest of the gang were, then undid his coat. “You see this sweater?”

“Uhh… yeah…?” It was just a plain black sweater with a gold coloured stripe going down the front. “Wait… you made that!?”

“Dude, Shhh!” Umeki shushed him, doing his coat back up to hide it “But… yeah. Took fucking ages, but… most of it was just knitting a row, then purling a row, then knitting a row, and just having to make sure I changed to gold at the right times each row…”

“Man… that’s impressive!” That woulda bored the crap outta him!

“Ehh… Thanks… But your stuff’s better…”

“Ah, c’mon! It’s not _that_ good!” Mondo tried to cheer him up, “’Sides, I’ve only shown you the best stuff! Lemme show you some of the stuff I made when I was first trying…” Where was that picture he’d taken of all the different paperweights he’d made Makoto last year, to make up for the first one being crap…?

* * *

Alright, time to try this again…

Swing the nunchucks like he’d been practising a few times to build up speed and scare the crap outta Ishimaru, throw a low kick out to distract him and while he was reacting to _that,_ swing the thing high so it’d whack his upper body and then… _Oh shit it was bouncing BACK at him…!_

 _“Urk…”_ Takemichi barely ducked and threw his arm up high quickly enough to stop this stupid thing from hitting him square in the fucking _head_ again! How the hell was he supposed to stop this shit from happening!? Bruce Lee’s nunchuck’s never did _that_ shit!

…’Course all the shit was probably fake, right? It’s not like he’d have actually been allowed to hit a bunch of people for real! That’s why you never saw the damn things ricochet back in his face!

“Uhh… You alright, Boss?” Oh _great!_ Kino must have looked up from his comic at just the right time to see him fucking panic…

The pair of them hadn’t even _tried_ going to Literature class, this week. They hadn’t heard anything from any of the teachers about storming out last week, but they weren’t about to push their luck by walking back in the same class like nothing had happened. ‘Sides, Kino had been more interested in reading his comics, anyway. The guy had had his nose stuck in those things all week, except for the ten fucking seconds while Takemichi was flailing around like a dumbass!

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He straightened back up like nothing had happened, swinging the nunchucks back down by his side, _and_ making sure not to whack himself in the leg with them this time. “Just starting to think these things ain’t worth the trouble. Maybe I’ll use one of those long, bo stick, things…”

“You means those things that’re, like… six foot long?” Kino asked, “How’re you gonna start carrying one of _those_ around?”

Right, that’d been the reason he’d picked the nunchucks in the first place. They were small enough for him to sneak into his school bag. But… “Eh… I ain’t gotta carry ‘em with me _all_ the time. I just wanna be able to use it to kick _Ishimaru’s_ ass!”

“Uhh…” Kino started looking at him like he was crazy… “That’s all you want it for?”

“’Course it’s all I want it for! I’m strong enough that I don’t need a weapon to fall back on!” Kino leant backwards as Takemichi tossed the nunchucks away. “I’m only doing this to show that asshole that his shitty fake sword doesn’t make him a better fighter than me!”

...Kino wasn’t saying anything. Just looking at him like he’d lost it…

_“What’s with THAT look!?”_

“Urghh… Do you…” Kino looked like he was pretty sure Takemichi was gonna kick _his_ ass for what he was about to say, but still said it anyway… “Do you have something _against_ the guy?”

“What the _fuck_ would I have against the guy!?” Aside from him being with Mondo, but no one knew about that! “’Cause, if you’re asking if I’m pissed about this tiny bruise he gave me…!”

“N-no, that ain’t it!” Kino stammered, “It just… seems like he can’t open his mouth without pissing you off!”

“Ain’t that true for all of us!?”

“Uhh… No? Not really, dude.” Kino shrugged, “I mean, sure, he’s been a killjoy a couple of times and he’s kinda loud in the mornings and its weird how much of a nerd he is. But other than that, he ain’t really done anything wrong, and he’s been helping out around camp, so…”

“But… what about all the other stuff he’s doing? Like making us all wear ‘proper safety gear’!”

“Yeah… like I said, bit of a killjoy…” Kino repeated, “But that wasn’t that bad.”

“Okay, but there’s also…” Takemichi realised saying ‘the reading night’s’ wasn’t gonna convince _Kino,_ ‘cause he’d fucking _loved_ those things… “This shit about him making pancakes!”

“The pancakes!? The hell’s wrong with that!? That sounds like it’s gonna be awesome!" Kino’s question made him realise he hadn’t explained that right, “Hasi was asking everyone what toppings we want this morning!”

 _"What!?_ You mean he's making the guy do even _more_ work for that!?" Hell, he didn't even have the excuse of not being able to leave the camp to do that one!

"Uhh... I dunno, Hasi seemed like he was pretty excited about it..."

“Yeah, but the whole thing's only happening ‘cause I told Ishimaru he shouldn’t bitch about Hasi’s cooking when he doesn’t do any himself, and he obviously wanted to be an ass and one-up the guy by making something _he_ doesn’t!” Takemichi told him, “And even then, Hasi’s got roped into helping with it ‘cause it’s obvious the guy wouldn’t be able to do it by himself!”

“But Hasi was the one who brought it up in the first place! If he hadn’t wanted to do it, he wouldn’t have said anything about it, right?” Kino argued, “And the way Ishimaru reacted, it kinda made wonder if Hasi was just using the guy as an excuse to ask if any of us wanted something new to eat.”

“Eh? Why would you think that?” Sure, Ishimaru _had_ acted like he’d not expected Hasi to bring his bragging up in front of anyone else, but… “If Hasi had just made it up, Ishimaru woulda just said he had no idea what the guy was talking about!”

“Unless he’d suggested that… Uhh...” Kino suddenly froze, like he’d realised something...

“Unless he suggested what?” Takemichi asked, although the only thing that’d make sense was… “That _he’d_ make up some shit about wanting to learn to cook and ask what everyone wanted to eat, just so _Hasi_ could have an excuse make something new?”

“Y-yeah. Summat like that.” Kino admitted. “Maybe.”

“I guess it _coulda_ happened…” It’d be a pretty clever idea… but then that was a problem all by itself! “Kind of a stretch to assume Ishimaru’s smart enough to think of that, though!”

“But he… Uhhh…” Kino’s eyes flicked down to his comic for just a second... “I mean… He’s a Hope’s Peak kid, right!? They’re pretty smart, ain’t they!?”

What the hell was that? He’d been about to say something completely different… and it wasn’t even the first time this conversation he’d stopped himself from finishing a sentence! What the hell was he hiding? Something to do with those comics…?

…That advice Ishimaru had tried to give him! The one he’d been pretending he hadn’t followed…! “Ishimaru told you to tell everyone _he_ made you go to the library, so you could get some comics!” That _was_ it! The way Kino flinched settled it, “That’s why you figure he’s covering for Hasi wanting to learn to cook something new!”

“Nurgghh…” Kino’s whole body was clenched, as he glared at him… Right, ‘cause he’d been trying to keep this quiet and now Takemichi knew!

“Relax… I ain’t gonna tell anyone. And even if I did, half the gang’s started going there for comics, anyway!” Kino quit gritting his teeth, though he still looked cautious about it. “I’m just surprised. When I saw you zoom off that night, I figured Ishimaru must have been being a stupid prick to you, not that you were rushing off to ‘cause he’d given you a good idea!”

“Oh… So, is _that_ why you’ve been pissed off with him?” Kino asked, raising his eyebrows at him. “’Cause you’d thought he’d upset _me?”_

“Well… it wasn’t _just_ you!” Hell, if it _had_ just been one misunderstanding, Ishimaru woulda been right to call him ‘defensive’! “I caught him badgering Mitsukuni about something as well, and Umeki said something about him asking weird questions…”

“Well… I dunno exactly what happened with them, but… I don’t think he means anything by it.” Kino admitted. “Seems like he’s just… trying to get to know us better. And maybe a bit shit at noticing when he’s struck a nerve.”

“Yeah… I _know,_ that’s the problem!” Takemichi pointed out, only to realise Kino was giving him that ‘I’m worried you’ve gone crazy’ look again… “I mean… That’s what’s pissing me off about him… I don’t like seeing him upset you guys, even if it’s by accident!”

“I get what you mean…” Kino said, though it sounded like he still though it was weird. “But… is that really worth beating the crap outta him with a _stick!?”_

“Dammit… you’re right.” Even if he hadn’t been thinking the worst about the guy, going all-out with weapons on the guy would be taking it too far… “I guess I oughta try giving him a break…”

“Really!?” Kino looked surprised that he’d agreed, “I mean, that’s great! Glad you agree! I’ll, uhh… let you get back on with… whatever you’re gonna do now!”

“Sure… no problem.” Takemichi muttered, as Kino rushed to shove the comic back in front of his face. Why the hell was the guy so nervous? Had he really been that scared to point out that Takemichi had been a dumbass about this? Maybe he _did_ need to tone it down a little…

* * *

(Thursday October 4th 2012)

“Err… Yukimaru, could you pass me some more milk, please?”

“Huh? Sure, here you go…”

“Thank you!”

Well… this was better than breakfast _yesterday_ had been, that was for fucking sure!

He wasn’t sure what the hell had happened, but Michi had seemed to calmed down sometime during school yesterday, and now he was even being polite to Taka!

Not that _either_ of them was in a rush to start a conversation, but at least it was just an _awkward_ silence this time, and not the ice-cold calm-before-the-storm silence they’d had before snapping at each other a week ago. He’d take this over that any day!

He just had to hope that whatever Hasi was coming over to talk to them about wasn’t about to screw it up…

“Uhh… hey, Ishimaru?”

“Y-yes?” Taka answered, but while shooting a worried glance over at Michi, who was suddenly having a staring contest with his cereal.

“I got that list of toppings the guys suggested…” Hasi handed him a sheet of paper, which Taka nervously took. “I figured I’d check if you had any more ideas before getting the stuff I’ve listed out…”

“Yes, I’ll have a look!” Taka read through it, still occasionally checking to see what Michi’s reaction to this was before handing it back. “Well, everything I could think of is there, except… Did no one want bacon in the end, or have you just not written it down?”

“Nah, no one was bothered about having that, in the end!” Hasi shrugged.

“Really!?” Usually the guys would fucking _fight_ over bacon… “I mean, _I_ wouldn’t be bothered having it with pancakes, but…”

“Yeah! I was surprised by that, too. I’d have thought that’d be on everyone’s list!” Hasi admitted, “But when I mentioned it, they all said they weren’t that bothered…”

How weird…

“Hmm… Before you asked, did you happen to mention that we’d need someone extra to _cook_ the bacon, if we were going to offer it?” Taka asked, “That might have skewed their response…”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Well… They might have thought that if they said yes to the bacon, then you might have then asked _them_ to be the one to cook it!” Taka tried to explain.

“Well… _yeah!?”_ Hasi looked like he’d missed Taka point, “I wouldn’t make someone who _didn’t_ want it do the work so someone _else_ could!”

“No, of course not! But… errm…” Taka tried to think of another way to put it…

“He means almost everyone in the gang would want bacon on their pancakes, if it was just _there,_ ready to take!” Michi piped up, “But none of the lazy fuckers wanna be the one who actually has to _cook_ it! Especially not if they think they might end up having to cook enough for everyone _else,_ too!”

“But it’s not _that_ hard to fry some bacon…” Hasi frowned, “You really think that’s all that put ‘em off?”

“I imagine a lot of them were probably thinking that, if _everyone_ was going to want bacon, then there’d probably be someone _else_ who’d volunteer to cook it!” Taka sighed, “And then they wouldn’t have to cook, but they’d still get bacon!”

“Hah! No kidding!” Michi laughed bitterly, “I bet if you went back and told any one of those guys that you’d asked everyone else if they’d cook and they'd all said no, then they’d change their answer!”

“Yes! Exactly!” Taka nodded heavily, “If only they could be honest about it in the first place!”

“Yeah! That’d be fucking easier, wouldn’t it!?” Michi agreed, “Instead of having to figure out if ‘no’ means ‘no’ or just ’that’s a great idea, but I don’t wanna get off my _lazy ass!’”_

“Ahahaha!” Wait… holy shit, were these two actually _laughing with each other!?_ “Or ‘Yes, I agree that _does_ need doing, but I’d rather somebody _else_ did it’!”

 _“Pfft…_ ” Man… of all the things these two would get along over, he hadn’t expected it to be ‘getting people to volunteer for shit’! “And then when ya have ta tell ‘em _no,_ there _isn’t_ anyone else and you’re gonna beat their ass if they _don’t_ do it themselves _,_ they get all pissed off with ya for being a hardass!”

“Err… _yes!”_ Okay, so it took Taka a moment to figure out what ‘beat their ass’ would be in _his_ world, but he was still went along with it… “And even when there _are_ other people volunteering to do those things, everyone just takes it for granted! Like our student counc…”

 _Oh shit…_ The way Taka had just frozen mid word, with his eyes wide open… He’d just reminded himself about what happened, hadn’t he? Shit… did this mean he was gonna freeze up for days again, like when they’d first found out…?

“Uhh… Ishimaru…?” Michi and Hasimoto were both staring at him, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him, ‘cause he wasn’t moving...

“Ah… I just…” Taka managed a few words, gulping and taking deep breaths. “I just remembered something I need to go and do. Excuse me…”

“Wait… Taka, what…?” Taka was up on his feet and rushing away before Mondo could finished saying ‘are you going to do…?’ But it looked like he was just going straight back into the tent. Probably to cry in private, where he wouldn’t have to break any school rules by explaining _what_ had made him tear up in the first place…

“What was that about…?” Michi asked.

“Uhh… I can’t really explain it to you…” Mondo admitted, especially not with Hasi there. “Just… there’s something about the student council that’s really upset him, so… do me a favour and don’t ask him about it.”

“Sure… got it.” Michi agreed, surprisingly quickly.

“Is he gonna be alright though?” Hasi asked.

“Uhh… I think so…” He’d been talking at least, that was a good sign, right? “I’ll give him a minute and then go check on him…”

“Uhh… okay…” He still looked worried, although whether that was ‘cause he was actually worried about _Taka,_ or just worried about having help to cook pancakes in a couple of days was a good question…

“Well… anyway. I reckon you should bacon to your list of things to buy.” Michi changed the subject at whiplash-speed. “I’ll either make the next person who fucks up do it, or do it myself, if it comes to it…”

“Really!? A-alright, got it!” Hasimoto took one more glance at the tent Taka had run into, before putting his list away and heading off. “See you later!”

“See ya!” Mondo and Michi both waved him off… “And I guess I’d better get going, too…” Michi added, with a sigh.

“I guess so…” Mondo had to admit, he was kinda surprised that Michi had never suggested skipping school to hang out with him. Not that today would be a good time for it, but he still woulda thought the guy would wanna try and see more of him… “See ya later?”

“Sure…” Michi nodded, looking over to Mondo’s tent as he stood up, “And…”

“What?” He almost looked like he was worried about Taka…

“…Tell Ishimaru this better not stop him from making pancakes on Saturday!” The guy shook his head and snapped.

“That’s _two days away!”_ Mondo forced a laugh… after all, Taka’d probably get over this in less than _three_ days, this time, right!? “He’ll be fine!”

“He _better_ be! Everyone’s getting excited about this…” Michi muttered as he headed off…

Funny though, Mondo hadn’t heard _that_ many people getting excited about it. They might have thought it was kinda cool, but he thought _he_ was the one who was most looking forward to it!

Well, that didn’t really matter now, did it? He needed to go make sure Taka was alright…

“Hey, Taka…?” Mondo would have rather opened the tent flap up first and asked if it was alright to come in, rather than just come straight into the tent. But he figured Taka probably wouldn’t have come in here if he’d wanted the whole gang to see him crying, so…

“Ah… M-Mondo.” Taka looked up from hugging and crying into his knees at the sound of his voice, and looked up with tears streaming down his face. “I… I’m sorry, I just… it just suddenly hit me… And… and I can’t… _I can’t st-stop…!”_

Shit… was he beating himself up for crying about it, again!?

“Hey… It’s okay!” Mondo scooted forward to Taka’s side and pulled him into a hug by the shoulders… “C’mere…”

 _“Hahhh…”_ Taka took a deep breath like he was trying to compose himself, but it didn’t sound like it worked… “It’s… just… it’s not _fair!_ Th-they all did so much and… and… _it’s not fair! AAHHHHH!”_

“Uhh…” Mondo didn’t know what to say as Taka buried his head against him and just _sobbed._ What was there _to_ say? He was right, that most of those guys had probably run around doing all sorts to help everyone else out! He’d seen all the work Taka had been doing just to try and get _on_ the council! And sure, some of that was probably just Taka being Taka and doing twice as much as he needed, but even _Makoto_ had been starting to talk about all the stuff _he’d_ be doing as the guy in charge of events, and _sure_ Makoto liked organising fun stuff for everyone to do, but he’d never _had_ to do it! He’d just started doing it ‘cause he wanted to get to know everyone, but then everyone had got used to him doing it and just… _expected_ him to do it, without really thanking him for it or anything!

And it was the same with Michi… that’s why he’d been so quick to laugh about it with Taka! Sure, the rest of the gang might give him more respect ‘cause Mondo had left him in charge of ‘em all, but that didn’t stop _any_ of ‘em from giving him shit for it whenever they thought they could get away with it! They hadn’t even noticed when the guy had started skipping school to get all of their crap done! And neither had Mondo! He’d just been glad he’d had the guy around to make sure the gang were all okay, but it had taken Mondo over half a year to check if _he_ was okay as well! And the guy had never complained about any of it…

But… what if one day he’d woken up and been told Makoto and Michi were suddenly _dead!?_ The guys he’d been relying on to organise all the shit he liked to do were just… _gone._ And he’d never thanked either of ‘em for any of it! Oh, _sure_ , he’d said ‘good job’ a few times, but he’d never said ‘thanks for being the guy who _always_ does this’ or even ‘hey, how’s about _I_ organise something for once…?’ He’d just got used to the idea that they’d always be around to do it, but what if one day… They _weren’t?_

That was what was so bad about the council being murdered, wasn’t it? It was like… _ten_ or _twelve…_ However many of them there were! It was like if that many Makotos or Michis… or even _Takas_ had suddenly been killed off! And that… that was just… that would’ve been fucking _awful_ if that’d happened _…_ But it _was_ what had happened…!

 _“Sniff…_ S-sorry about that…” Taka managed to stop sobbing and look up at him, just as Mondo’s eyes started feeling wet. “I just… _Mondo!?_ Are you…? _”_

“Y…you’re right…” Mondo shoved his head back down, so he could hold him _safe_ and _close_ and he wouldn’t see that Mondo was starting to _cry_. “It… It ain’t fair… It shouldn’t have happened… N-not to _them!”_

“It… it shouldn’t have happened at all!” Taka cried, managing to sound indignant despite being muffled. “B-but… _yes…_ if it _had_ to happen… _wh-why did it have to be THEM!?_ I-it was the w-worst thing that c-could have…! _”_

 _It wasn’t the worst thing…_ The worst thing would’ve been if it’d been the guy who’d just started sobbing into his chest again, or one of his friends…

But… it was probably up near the top of list, and he’d not really thought about that before, so… Maybe today was a good day to just sit here and squeeze Taka _and_ the tears outta his eyes…

* * *

(Friday October 5th 2012)

“Oh… You showed up today!” Kiyotaka felt a pang of guilt as Mitsukuni reminded him that he’d failed to meet him here in this secluded area of the forest to play a game after breakfast, yesterday. Just a single day after they’d decided that’s what they’d do from now on…

“Ah… Yes! Sorry about yesterday…” Kiyotaka apologised, “I… I accidentally reminded myself of… some other students I’d been working with who… _died_ … a short time ago…”

That sounded so pathetic. It would be easier to just be able to _tell_ people what had really happened, but the school had set that rule for a reason, so he wasn’t about to just ignore it for the sake of convenience!

“Oh, shit! Really?” At least Mitsukuni didn’t seem to think it was a poor excuse to skip their game. “So… kids our age? How’d they die?”

“Urrgg… I’d rather not talk about it…” Was all Kiyotaka could think to say in response to _that_ question _…_

“Oh! Uhh… yeah, sorry!” Mitsukuni cringed, “Uhh… are you gonna be alright to play today, and stuff…?”

“Ah… yes! I should be fine, thank you!” Kiyotaka assured him, “So, let’s get on with this game, before I make you late for school!”

“Alright then…” Mitsukuni nodded, and got out two piles of cards. “I tried making us some new decks, your’s is a grass type one and…”

Spending so long crying in Mondo’s arms yesterday had ended up being cathartic, in a way. It was good to see that Mondo had been upset by their deaths as well… He hadn’t been sure if Mondo had actually been upset that the council were gone, or just worried for his own safety before. Not that it didn’t still seem like a terrible, tragic thing to have happened, but at least knowing it wasn’t just _him_ who’d appreciated their work was something. It made it easier to start thinking about what he and the others were going to do once he went back to the school and they started their new council…

But, for now, he wasn’t _at_ the school. He was out here looking after Mondo’s mental health, and seeing as Mondo was keen for him to get along with the members of his gang and get them to start talking more about their hobbies, he should focus on this game, for now…

“So… I have a Venusaur card in my hand, so I’m allowed to replace the Bulbasaur I have out with it?” He was pretty sure he’d understood how this all worked, even though it had been a couple of days since he’d last played and he had a new set… or _deck_ of cards to work with…

“No… Bulbasaur evolves into _Ivy_ saur, _then_ Venosaur…” Mitsukuni corrected him, “It should say ‘evolves from Ivysaur’ near the top left of the card…

“Ah… You’re right!” Kiyotaka noticed the small text underneath the creature’s name… Which he should have remembered was there, because he’d made a similar mistake on Wednesday, and Mitsukuni had corrected him that time as well! “I’m amazed you can remember so many of these…”

“That’s just ‘cause Bulbasaur was one of the first ones, and Ash had one in the anime!” The boy he was playing against turned defensive. “It’s not like I’m one of those nerds who’s memorised all six-hundred and whatever of them!”

“There’s over _six hundred_ of these!?” Why did they need to have so many!?

“Yeah… it started with one hundred and fifty one, but they keep adding more every time they make a new videogame, and there’s five games already…” Even the first one hundred and fifty seemed like a lot for people to keep track of! “And there’s rumours that they’re gonna announce a new game next year, too…”

“I had no idea there was so much of this pokémon stuff…” He only vaguely remembered some of the children at school talking about it. Though if there were five videogames and an anime of this, then… “I suppose that must mean there’s plenty of books for me to read to you, then!”

“Huh?” Mitsukuni looked confused, as Kiyotaka reminded him of the thing he’d planned to check at the library on Wednesday… “Oh… no, it turned out all the books they had were all just stuff that happened in the anime, anyway.”

“Oh… that’s a shame!” Mitsukuni had been excited about the possibility of having some new pokémon stories read to him, but if it turned out they were all the same things he already knew about, it wouldn’t be any interest to him. But it couldn’t be helped, if they’d decided to focus on writing episodes of the anime, rather than written stories.

Then again… Just because there weren’t _official_ stories available, didn’t necessarily mean that there weren’t _any_ available, did it? Kyoko had managed to find several new Phoenix Wright stories that he’d not seen in any of the mangas, hadn’t she… What had she called them again…?

“Ah! Have you ever heard of fanfiction?” Kiyotaka remembered, “Apparently there’s websites were people upload stories they’ve written about other people’s characters, for free! If there’s that many pokémon games, then someone’s probably written something about it, right?”

“I guess?” Mitsukuni considered it, “I can check it out at school and then show you anything I find afterwards, if you wanna meet up at the carpark again…?”

“Alright then!” Kiyotaka agreed… and speaking of him going to school, they’d better get on with this game! “So, as I can’t evolve Bulbasaur, I guess I’ll just attach a grass energy and use Tackle…”

* * *

Why the fuck were Mitsukuni and Ishimaru arguing in the carpark _again!?_ He’d thought those two were getting along now? Or at least, Mitsukuni was enjoying having someone else around who seemed to enjoy his nerdy pokémon cards… This’d been the second day in a row where the guy had seemed to expect Ishimaru to sneak off with him into the woods to… do whatever they’d been doing.

“Dude, c’mon! Stop being such a pussy!”

“I’ll admit I’m being a little over-sensitive about most of this, but some of these are _disgusting!_ How on _Earth_ can you think this is reasonable!?”

“But all of those are the _best ones!”_

But now, they were both yelling at each other so loudly, that neither of them had even noticed him parking up his bike, or walking over to them…

“What the hell are you two arguing about _this_ time!?” They _did_ notice that. Both jumping with shock as Ishimaru quit waving around the stack of papers he was holding and tried to hide it against his chest.

“…He said he was gonna read me some stuff, but now he’s wimping out of it!” Mitsukuni thought about it for a sec, before deciding to complain about it…

“I said I’d read it because I thought it was just going to be things that were similar to the anime!” Ishimaru argued, “Which I _thought_ was supposed to be suitable for children!”

“It _is,_ but I didn’t think you’d be such a pussy about it if I picked some stories that were written for adults!” Mitsukuni bitched back at him.

“I _told_ you, I don’t think _anyone_ would be willing to read this!”

“And I told _you_ these are the most popular one’s _on_ there!”

Urggh… they were gonna keep on arguing until someone else made a call on it, weren’t they…?

“Alright, let me see it!” Takemichi told Ishimaru, holding his hand out for the papers, which Ishimaru handed over while turning bright red…

What the hell was in this thing…? Let’s see, there was a summary, which read… _‘Red's in that kind of a mood, Green realizes. The bites move up, his tongue mapping tendons and veins, before Red mouths at the soft skin of his elbow.’_

Wait… what the fuck was this…? Had Mitsukuni printed off a bunch of porn…!? Fucking hell, you could tell in the first _line_ of this thing that these were two guys and it didn’t take half a page before they were starting to fuck! No wonder Ishimaru hadn’t wanted to read it to him!

But Mitsukuni didn’t look at all embarrassed about this either, so… “Did you actually _read_ any of this before printing it off…?”

“What? No, why would I have done that?” The guy shrugged, “I mean, Ishimaru said he’d read ‘em, so I just searched for the ones marked explicit and sorted ‘em by how popular they were!”

“So, you have no idea what’s in this…” Takemichi finished off, for him.

“Well… it’s pokémon stories. They’re probably just a bunch of people having battles, right?” Fucking hell, he really had no idea… “Just, you know, with lots of blood and gory shit, for adults!”

“Errr… _no._ That’s not it at all!” Ishimaru told him, “There’s not a single one of those that had _any_ pokémon battles in them!”

“What!? Why the hell would someone wanna write about pokémon, but not pokémon battles!?” Mitsukuni asked, “What’re they about, then?”

“…Most of them were about… two men having sex with each other.” Ishimaru explained, turning even redder. “Although… the one I particularly disapproved of seemed to be about a man having sex with one of his pokem…”

 _“EEEWWWW!_ Dude, what the fuck!?” Mitsukuni yelled at him, like he hadn’t just been calling the guy a pussy for complaining about it. “Don’t say shit like that!”

 _“You’re_ the one who handed me these and said they were _good!”_ Ishimaru called him out on it.

“W-well… _you’re_ the one who suggested I check these out!” Mitsukuni argued back.

“Err… Well… _yes,_ I did…” Ishimaru admitted, “But… I didn’t realise they’d all be like _that!_ The ones Kyoko found didn’t have any mention of sex at all!”

“Yeah, ‘cause your friend probably didn’t only look at ones marked ‘explicit’” Takemichi guessed, “If you’re just looking for fights and stuff, it’d probably have a T or M rating.”

“Ah… Thinking about it, _yes,_ that was the rating on the ones she showed me!” Ishimaru agreed, changing to his normal shade of white. “Err… but next time, maybe you should at least read the summary, to see if pokémon battles are mentioned at all!

“Uhh… yeah. Sure.” Mitsukuni muttered sheepishly. “Maybe I’ll, uhh… go to the library and see what I can find, instead.”

“Alright! I’ll see you later, then!” Ishimaru waved awkwardly as Mitsukuni practically ran to his bike and drove off in a hurry.

Which left Takemichi holding a bunch of weird sex stories. What the fuck was he supposed to do with this? He’d better just go straight out and trash it before any of the gang saw 'em…

“I can take those off you, now!” Ishimaru offered.

“Huh?” Why would he want them? Or was he thinking he’d just throw these in the normal trash pile? “Oh… No, I better just get rid of these straight away. Don’t want anyone in the gang finding this shit!”

“Oh… err…” Ishimaru started turned red again… “Yes, I suppose that’s best…”

The hell was up with him? He looked disappointed… “Were you planning on _reading_ these!?”

“Errg! N-not _all_ of them! I just thought… if there was anything that _wasn’t_ about sex, then maybe…” Ishimaru choked out, “…But you’re probably right. I doubt there’s anything like that in there…”

“Why would you even care if there _was?”_ Mondo had said he’d only cared about playing that pokemon game ‘cause it was a _game,_ right? “You’re not into pokémon at all! Why would you care about pokémon stories!?”

“Well… I was thinking about the male pairings, specifically.” Ishimaru stammered, not that he was making any sense. “I just thought it might be nice to read some stories about men in relationships with other men.”

“Why…?” Who cared about other people’s love lives!? That shit was usually boring as hell, wasn’t it? He’d take a good action movie over that shit any day of the week!

“Well, I thought it might be nice to read something about people like myself! Or possibly even _situations_ like my own! Even if it’s just to remind myself that it’s not just _me_ going through these things, or maybe to get some possible advice on things…” Ishimaru looked off to the side, then back at him. “Do _you_ ever feel like that?”

“No… never really thought about it.” It wasn’t like he didn’t know other gay guys existed, right? Even if he’d never _met_ any, aside from Mondo and Ishimaru… And he didn’t need any advice, he already knew it’d be best to just keep his feelings for Mondo quiet and get over them… And he’d not been doing _too_ bad at that, even if he still couldn’t really _like_ Ishimaru… But all that was normal, wasn’t it?

“Oh… I see.” Ishimaru sighed, “Perhaps I’m just missing having friends to talk to about it…”

“You talk to your _friends_ about this!?” Weren’t all he friends in his and Mondo’s class at school!? Did that mean _Mondo_ spoke to them all about this too!? Was it just _him_ who _didn’t!?_

“Err… _yes!_ Don’t y…?” Ishimaru froze mid question, “… _Your_ friends are all in this gang, aren’t they?”

“Yeah…” Why the fuck was Ishimaru looking at him like that!? “What wrong with that! This gang’s great!” …Even if he knew there was no way in hell he’d even be able to talk to ‘em about how he _really_ felt, sometimes!

“Well… that may be…” What did he mean ‘may be’!? “But I certainly wouldn’t dare to admit I’m gay to any of them, either!”

“…But you think if I had more ‘normal’ friends, I might? Is that what you’re getting at!?” Like, maybe he’d be able to talk about it with the guys at school…? Assuming Kino wasn’t around, anyway…

“Err… Well, I don’t know for sure! It might be that _my_ group of friends were easier to talk to about it than most!” Ishimaru thought about it. “They’re certainly nicer than the students at my middle school were... But I suppose I don’t really know enough people to have an idea of how normal it is to be accepted or not!”

“Is that another reason you’re thinking it’d be nice to read some stuff about other gay guys?” Maybe it’d give him some idea of how to spot who could and couldn’t be trusted to keep their trap shut if he _did_ start talking about it…

“Err… perhaps! It might be useful to know more about other people’s experiences, if I’m going to try and help them in the future…”

“Yeah… maybe.” Not that he really cared about Ishimaru’s plans, even if he knew Mondo would like it if he did something nice for the guy… other than agreeing to cook the bacon tomorrow… “So, what ones did you have in mind?”

“What?” Ishimaru blinked at him, “Wait, are you offering to get me some!?”

“Well, yeah! You _want_ ‘em, don’t you!?” Wasn’t that a believable enough excuse!?

“Well, yes! But… I don’t really _know_ any! I’d have already read them, if I did!” For fuck’s sake… of course it wasn’t going to be as easy as asking the guy for a list… “That’s so stupid of me! I can’t believe I’ve never thought about this before! I could have easily looked up some recommendations on my tablet anytime this whole _month!_ Why _didn’t_ I…!?”

“Woah…!” Why the hell was he freaking out so much, if it was just a case of looking it up online!? The guy looked like he was about to rip his own _hair_ out! “Dude, if all you were gonna do was Google it, I can do that while I’m at the library…”

“Ah… I suppose so!” The guy calmed down enough to let go of his own head. “But… are you sure it’s not too much trouble?”

“Well… It’s not like I’m gonna be able to go straight out and get them _now…”_ He’d have to plan it carefully, make sure he went at a time when no one else in the gang would see him… maybe tomorrow, after everyone had stuffed themselves full of pancakes… And then he’d wanna read some of them himself, before giving them to Ishimaru… “You might have to wait a while…”

“Ah, well if you’re sure, then thank you!” Ishimaru smiled at him. “I’m really glad we’re starting to get along, now!”

“ _Yeeeah_ …” _Were_ they getting along!? As far as he was concerned, he still needed to make sure Ishimaru wasn’t causing trouble for the gang all the time. Even if there _were_ several guys who seemed to really like him, and he’d been helping out with _way_ more than his fair share of chores, but all in all… “I’m guess I’m glad I decided _not_ to kick your ass with a bo staff.”

“Err…” Ishimaru froze, as Takemichi turned and started heading back to the camp without him. Hopefully _that’d_ make him realise that just ‘cause Takemichi had thought that _maybe_ he had a point about reading being useful, didn’t mean they were _that_ buddy-buddy now!

(Saturday October 6th 2012)

“…And here’s your card, and your login details for the computers. Welcome to the library!” Wait… was that it!? The way the guys had all been complaining, he’d been thinking this was gonna take _hours!_ It hadn’t even been half an hour! And that had included taking an ID picture… “Do you want me to show you how to use the self-checkout kiosks?”

“Nah, I reckon I can figure it out…” It’d probably have instructions, like those machines in the supermarkets did, right?

“Alright, but… _please_ just let me know if you have any problems.” She sounded really anxious about letting him go off by himself. “ _Lots_ of people get frustrated with the machines! It’s nothing to be embarrassed about!”

…Don’t tell him one of the guys had done something dumb like punched one of them...

“Well, if it turns out they’re _that_ bad, I can just come ask you to check the books out, right?” She looked less worried about it as he shrugged and headed off through a bunch of shelves to the computers, double checking that he didn’t recognise any of the other people in here before sitting down and going through the instructions for logging on and changing his password to something bike related...

Of course there wasn’t anyone from the gang here, even _if_ he’d had to spend more time cooking bacon this morning than he’d expected, as Hasimoto and Ishimaru had taken longer to cook the pancakes than they’d been expecting. Still, the whole thing had gone surprisingly well. Ishimaru’s refusal to serve anyone who wasn’t queuing politely had stopped the whole thing from turning into a riot, and Hasimoto had had the sense to buy more of the toppings than they could possibly need, which meant there were no arguments over those, either. The only thing _he’d_ had to shout about was when he caught Hattori trying to sneak some extra bacon into his pocket, and even _then,_ it was pretty useful to be able to have a reason to force the guy to do _his_ share of the cleaning up, while he snuck off for ride to the library before anyone was likely to come in and see him searching for…

…’Best gay books’ was simple enough… but maybe he should add ‘teen’ at the end, just to make sure he didn’t end up with a bunch of weird shit like Mitsukuni had…

Well, these results all looked pretty normal. Hell, the top one on the list just sounded like some two guys going on an adventure…

Still, maybe that was a good thing. Even if he somehow fucked up badly and someone saw the list he was now copying down, it wouldn’t be obvious what the connection between ‘em all was... Now he just had to use the kiosks to _find_ where the things actually _were…_

Alright… so he’d had to wander around the place for a while to find the right place, but he’d managed to find the _first_ book on his list…

 _‘Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe’_ it really _did_ look just like some random adventure book- the cover was mostly the stupidly-long title surrounded by a bunch of fancy drawings and symbols on top photo of a pickup truck in a field at night. And even the back just said the two guys became ‘special friends’. If he’d not known about it already, he probably would never had guessed it was supposed to be the best book for gay teen…

_Someone taller than him was getting REAL close to his shoulder! He had to put this book back NOW!_

He’d barely noticed the guy coming up behind him before he’d shoved the thing back in its place and wheeled around to find… _“Kino!?_ What’re you doing here!?”

“Uhh… _Hey,_ Michi!” The guy stepped back, sheepishly. “I was just gonna get some comics, but then I saw you and was wondering if we were supposed to have got some books for school, or something…”

“Uh… Huh.” Wouldn’t he _know_ if they had? That sounded like the guy had just been trying to see what he was picking up. But was there a reason for that, or was he just being nosy? Either way, at least he’d quit now, but it meant Takemichi was gonna have to come up with a reason for why he was here at all… “Well, this ain’t for school. Ishimaru just asked me to pick him up some books for him to just _read_ , rather than study. ‘Cause for some reason he thinks I’ll have a damn clue what kinda stories he’d like!”

“Oh… _really?”_ Goddammit, did he not believe him? That might be a problem if he decided to keep at him about it… “Well, did you check the display they’ve put up? At least they’d be _good,_ even if they’re not really his style…”

Thank fuck for that, he was going along with it… But now that meant _he_ had to go along with it as well! “Ehh… Well, that’s probably better than be picking up stuff at random! Where’s this display at…?”

Well, at least _now_ he knew what he was doing. He’d be able to dash in, grab a few books and check ‘em out in a few minutes. And if he checked what time the library opened, he could get up early and make his way here before anyone even got up tomorrow…

* * *

Man… what a great day!

The pancakes for breakfast had gone down _great,_ and helping Taka clean up afterwards hadn’t even been too bad. Then he’d spent the rest of the time until lunch relaxing while Taka read next to him, and afterwards he’d watched Taka get a bit more practice on the bike before Michi had challenged him to a race…

And, alright, he still wasn’t managing to relax enough on the bike to go all out and _beat_ the guy (he’d blamed it on eating too many pancakes this time), but it had still been a fun race, and afterwards they spent some time riding with the rest of the gang before meeting back up for dinner, and then Taka had finished off the book he’d started this week…

It had been a rough start, bringing Taka here, but it was really starting to work out and feel… _normal,_ now! Like this was how it always shoulda been…

“Well… this has been a productive day!” Taka seemed to be thinking the same as him, if the smile on his face was anything to go by. “I’m a _lot_ better at making pancakes, and I think I’m getting the hang of indicating my turns, too!”

“Yeah… You were looking pretty good on the bike!” Mondo ruffled his hair.

“When ya actually managed to _start_ the thing, anyway!” Michi smirked at him.

“Ahahaha… _true!”_ Taka laughed. That was another thing that had gone well… Those two were starting to get used to each other, at least enough that they were able to make jokes about each other without it seeming _mean_ anymore. “I suppose I ought to practise that! I can’t go on the roads if I’m going to be sat holding up traffic every time I stop at a light or something…”

Why was he worrying about that!? “Taka, there ain’t any roads here for you to drive on!”

“And you oughta try driving with a few other bikes around before you start thinking about going on the roads…” Michi added.

“Oh! Of course, I don’t mean _now!_ Even if I _was_ more experienced, I’d still need a provisional license!” Taka laughed, “I was just thinking about what I should prioritise for now!”

“Right…” Thank fuck for that. “In that case, ya might wanna get more practise starting the bike, then. And I can probably try and get a few of the more trustworthy guys to try and take you along somewhere…”

“Err… you don’t need to make them go out of their way to bring me along!” Taka frowned, “I’m still not that good at riding fast!”

“Eh… there’s a few guys who wouldn’t mind it.” Michi admitted, though it looked like it was pissing him off to admit it. “Even heard someone worrying ‘bout ‘ditching you back at camp’ earlier.”

“Err… But I don’t _mind_ staying here while you go out at all!” Taka insisted, “Honestly, it’s nice to get some peace and quiet!”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that! They haven’t even known ya for two weeks, yet!” Mondo reminded him. “Hell, I’m surprised they’re even worrying ‘bout you at all, this quick…”

“Hrmm…” Taka made a vague noise… And he looked like he’d zoned out thinking about something. _“OH NO!_ Argh! How could I have been so _stupid!?”_

 _“What!?”_ What the hell had made him freak out like _that!?_ “What is it!?”

“We’ve been here for _two weeks_ of classes, and I haven’t checked the phone _once!”_ Taka cried, pulling at his hair. “Have _you!?”_

“What!? Why would I!?” Kirigiri hadn’t said anything about them having to check the phone, had he!?

“Arrrgghh! The school’s probably left a _dozen_ messages or more, and we’ve completely ignored them!” Kiyotaka wailed, “We need to go check them _now!_ Do you at least know which way it is…!? Wait, I know! It’s on my map…”

“Wait… are you talking that old phone kiosk?” Michi asked him, “That’s just like… a normal payphone. It’s not got an answering machine on it, or anything…”

“It is!?” Taka stopped fumbling with him map and started breathing a bit slower.

“Yeah… Taka, we weren’t told to check for messages anywhere!” Mondo reminded him, “They just told us ‘bout the phone so we could ring and say if we wanted to go back!”

“But then… how will the school contact us?” Taka asked.

He hadn’t really thought about that, but… “I guess they’ll send a guy out here.”

“What!? That’s completely impractical!” Taka balked at the answer.

“Why!? I mean, once we’ve gotta go back, they’d have to send the helicopter back out anyway, right?” Mondo pointed out.

“But… what about _before_ then!?” Taka argued, “I mean… they’ll need to keep up updated with _other_ news, won’t they? And make sure that we’re okay out here, as well!”

“Taka, they _know_ we’re okay out here!” It wasn’t like they could risk calling attention to where Taka was, just to say ‘Hi’ to him! “And the only news that _matters_ is whether or not they’ve managed to ca…”

 _“MONDO!”_ Taka suddenly snapped at him, glancing aside at Michi… oh, right. Taka _would_ wanna include him in the ‘don’t tell anyone about the murders’ rule, and _he_ didn’t know Michi knew someone was after him…

“Sorry…” He sighed, to _both_ of them, now Michi was clearly trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about. “But… You know what I _mean,_ right? Once they’ve done _that,_ then they’ll send a guy out to pick us up and take us back!”

“But… that could take _months!_ And what if they’re not able to do it at all!?” What!? Did Taka mean… he thought they might _never_ catch that guy!? And then… Taka would be in danger _for ever…!?_

“That… that ain’t gonna happen!” It… it _couldn’t_ happen, right!? It wasn’t like the gang was gonna stay together for _ever…_ Not under _his_ command, so they’d need to go back at _some_ point! But… they needed to make sure Taka was _safe_ first! And they couldn’t do that with that guy out there!

“But… Mondo, it’s been two weeks, and we’ve not been told _anything_ about how it’s going!” Taka gingerly shuffled closer and placed a hand on his arm, “Shouldn’t we at least _consider_ what we’ll do if we don’t hear anything from them soon…?”

“Taka, we ain’t gotta _do_ anything!” Seriously, why couldn’t he just chill out and relax! They’d had such a great time today! “We’re just supposed to stay out here ‘till we’re called back!”

“But, we can’t stay out here _forever!”_

“And we ain’t _gonna!”_ Taka was right, that would be impossible! And Kirigiri had to know that, right!? He wasn’t expecting Mondo to keep the gang around _forever,_ was he!? Worse case… the headmaster was a smart guy, he would be thinking of _something_ else to keep Taka safe, right? But that probably relied on him having time to set it up… “But we _can_ stay here for more than _two fucking weeks!”_

“I _know_ that, Mondo! I’m not suggesting that we suddenly go back!” Taka groaned, “But… I’m missing classes, and Togami will start reforming the student council soon, and there was… there were _other things_ that I’m worried about! And I have no idea if my Father’s attempted to contact me or not! And… _I just want to know what’s going on back there!_ Why wouldn’t they think to _tell_ us!?”

… _’Cause they’re trying to keep you safe by keeping you hidden, and that means not contacting you all the time…_ But he couldn’t _say_ that! Taka thought they’d been let out here for a mental health break! So he’d just have to try and come up with a reason based on _that…_

“Well… we’re here ‘cause we’re supposed to be taking a break from stressful stuff, right?” Mondo reminded him, “They’re probably thinking it ain’t a good idea to stress us out with lots of news… Or by making us have to check the phone every day to wait and see if they’re gonna call us with something or not…”

“I suppose…” Taka sighed, “But, it’s still more frustrating not to have heard anything!”

“Well… if it _helps,_ I ain’t heard anything about Hope’s Peak at all?” Michi tried to help.

“…I don’t think you would have.” Taka pointed out, dully. “But thank you…”

Damn… he looked tired. Still, if he was worrying about stuff back at the school all the time, or top of everything _else_ he’d done today… “Hey… maybe you should go and get some rest? You’ve had a long day, and things’ll seem better in the morning…”

“…Alright, then.” Taka sighed, like he didn’t really believe they would, but couldn’t think of a reason not to. “Good night. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“G’night!” Fuck… Now Taka was walking off, maybe that hadn’t been the right thing to do. He’d just told Mondo he was worried about everything going on back at school, and Mondo had just told him to leave and get some sleep! He could have at _least_ asked Taka if he wanted to talk about any of it, first… Maybe he should go after him and as…

“You’re out here ‘cause of _stress!?”_ Michi asked, gobsmacked.

“No! I _told_ you why we’re out here, remember!?” For fucks sake, he thought _he’d_ take this seriously, at least! “That’s just what _Taka_ thinks we’re out here for…”

“Ehh… Right, sure…” Michi nodded, giving him a weird look…

He thought Mondo had just made up some bullshit, didn’t he? Well… Mondo couldn’t blame the guy, it sure _sounded_ like it was nonsense! Especially if it turned out Michi really _had_ seen that panic attack a week ago…

“Look… I know it sounds like bullshit!” Mondo admitted, “And… I’ll admit… The amount I’ve been worrying about it… Well, it has _kinda_ made me sick, a couple of times. But I fucking _promise_ you, I ain’t making this shit up! The headmaster at our school fucking _told_ me he wasn’t safe in there! _That’s_ why we’re here!”

“Uhh…” Michi blinked at him a few times, brow furrowing as he worked something out. “…That checks out.”

“So you believe me?”

“Yeah! Of course I do!” Michi nodded, “Hell, it ain’t like you’ve ever lied to me before, right!? Not about anything important, at least…”

 _“Uhh…” Except he fucking HAD, he’d lied about DAIYA!_ “Yeah! Of course not! I wouldn’t leave you in charge if I couldn’t trust you with stuff!”

“Right! So, no reason for me not to believe _this!”_ Michi grinned, “Thought I guess that means I oughta start making sure the guys are still paying attention to who comes in here… And maybe it _ain’t_ a great idea for us to all leave Ishimaru alone at camp next time we go out for a ride…”

Urgh… Fuck, he felt sick now… Of all the people he’d told about Daiya, he _still_ hadn’t told Michi, who was probably the guy who deserved to know most of all!

But he _couldn’t_ let him know! Not right now, when he needed him more than ever! But he’d have to make sure he did, soon… maybe once they’d been given the all-clear to go back to school. After all, they’d have to catch that guy soon!

But, in the meantime, he was gonna have to make sure he let Taka talk about whatever it was that was worrying him…

* * *

(Sunday October 7th 2012)

Kiyotaka groaned a little as he woke up feeling tense from another night of sleeping on the rough ground… As nice as connecting with nature was, he was really missing his soft bed back at Hope’s Peak… not to mention the _soundproof room_ it was in… And the rest of the school… And his friends… And teachers… And knowing if they were all okay or not…

Regardless of what Mondo said, he would have thought the school could have sent them _some_ sort of message after this long! Hopefully they’d get something tomorrow, given that would be the whole _fortnight_ since they’d arrived! And maybe he should try and head over to that phone, just in case the school _had_ been ringing it, intermittently! After all, even Hope’s Peak couldn’t just send two students out on a field trip and then completely _ignore_ them!

Especially when it wouldn’t be long before the new student council was allowed to form, and Kiyotaka was supposed to be _joining_ it, surely!? The headmaster _knew_ how much that meant to him! And _he’d_ behaved as if Kiyotaka would be back at the school _before_ then, but…

 _Mondo_ seemed to be acting on the belief that they’d stay out here until they heard that the murderer had been caught, and he hadn’t reacted well to Kiyotaka asking what would happen if they never _were_ caught at all! Would he _cope_ if they had to go back to school without the problem being resolved? But on the other hand, they couldn’t live out here in the forest forever, no matter _how_ nice it was!

Or at least… _Kiyotaka_ couldn’t. He was already starting to feel ashamed of himself for spending _this_ long out here! What would his father think if he found out about this? Him spending two weeks gallivanting about with a _gang_ during _term time!_ That was if he hadn’t already contacted the school and been told about it...

… _Would_ he have contacted the school by now? Surely, he must have started getting worried about Kiyotaka by now, no matter _how_ angry he’d been! After all, it must have been over _three_ weeks since they’d last spoken, right? He’d transferred the money to his father on the 8th, which was a month ago, so…

…Wait… the money for his _father!_ That was due to be transferred _now!_ But he hadn’t even _thought_ about asking someone to do it for him in advance! _Dammit!_ Now what was he going to do!? He couldn’t just… _not_ transfer the money! That could end up making his father go overdrawn, and that was _expensive!_ But he wouldn’t be _able_ to do it out here either… He’d either have to ask one of Mondo’s gang to go out and do it _for_ him, which would mean giving his bank account details out to people he barely knew, who might not even _want_ to help him, if Mondo didn’t agree with him that he _should_ give his father money…

 _Or_ he’d have to try and make his _own_ way to the library and do it there… But that would mean taking Mondo’s bike without permission, driving it on the _roads_ without a license, through a town he had never been to before! It would be insanity to even _try…_

But… if he _didn’t…_ and it ended up costing his father… and then he found out the _reason_ Kiyotaka hadn’t… There’d be _no_ chance of him ever supporting him and Mondo, would there…?

…His eyes drifted over to Mondo, deep asleep with his bike keys half-hanging out of his pocket, and the set of motorcycle leathers sitting in the corner of the tent…

He must be crazy to even _think_ about doing this…

* * *

Urgh, He must be _crazy_ to be doing this... Waking himself up early on a damn _Sunday_ to go to the fucking _library_ to check out a bunch of _gay books_ for the guy who _taken Mondo from him_ and was turning several guys in the gang into _nerds!_

‘Cept that wasn’t really fair, was it? He’d never really _had_ Mondo… Not the _real_ Mondo, who’d been _hidden_ the whole time Michi had known him… And Ishimaru wasn’t turning _anyone_ into a nerd, he was just… acting like they shouldn't be ashamed of themselves for liking things that weren’t motorcycles or girls… Like Hasimoto’s cooking, or Mitsukuni’s pokemon stuff or...

…Or Michi liking _guys…_

So, _yeah,_ maybe it _wasn’t_ so crazy to be sneaking out to the bikes early enough to get to the library and back before any of the other guys woke up and noticed he wasn’t there... He just wanted to quit having to keep his mouth shut _all_ the damn time, and maybe those book would help with that! 

So it was kinda a problem when he got up close to the bikes and heard the sound of one of an engine revving… who the hell else got up _this_ early!?

…And why did it sound like they’d just stalled the engine? No one in the gang ever did _that!_ Was someone trying to steal one of their bikes…!? Well, they were about to have another thing coming to them…!

 _“Hey!”_ Takemichi yelled as he ran forward, getting to the bikes just in time to see some guy in full black leathers and helmet awkwardly sitting on _Mondo’s_ bike, carefully trying to rev it back up again…

 _“AAAAAHHHH!”_ Michi recognised the nerdy scream the guy let out, as he panicked and stalled the bike again…

 _“Ishimaru!?”_ What the hell was _he_ doing!? “What’re you doing, trying to ride the boss’ bike when he ain’t _here!?”_

“Err…” The guy tried to sit up properly, like nothing was wrong. “M-Mondo said I could practise without h…”

 _“Bullshit!”_ Takemichi spat, “He wouldn’t even let _me_ ride his bike without him watching and _I_ don’t stall the thing two outta three times! What the hell are you _really_ doing…!?”

“I…” His shoulders slumped. “I was trying to go to the library without him knowing…”

 _“What!?_ Are you _that_ desperate for those books!?” The way _he_ drove he coulda got himself _killed!_

“No! It’s not that! I… I realised there’s something important I need a computer for!”

“Which is…?” What the hell could be so important that a guy like _him_ decided to steal a bike and break the rules his school had put in place _for his own safety...?_ Not that _he_ knew they were for his own safety... and he _still_ wasn't sure Mondo wasn't just fucking with him, but...

“You’ll probably think I’m being an idiot.” Ishimaru sighed, gripping the bike like he was still thinking of trying to ride it away…

“Well, you ain’t getting to the library unless you say it.” Takemichi told him, “Not unless you think you can outrun _me!”_

“Ah… Alright.” Ishimaru sounded hopeful, though he still looked reluctant to tell him as he lifted the visor off his face… “I usually send my father some money to help him pay bills every month, but I forgot to set up a transfer for _this_ month, and I’m worried he’ll end up overdrawn if I _don’t…”_

“Wait… Didn’t your old man _punch you?”_ That was the _main thing_ Mondo had told him about that party!

“That was an accident! He was aiming for _Mondo!”_ Ishimaru snapped, then realised that didn’t exactly answer the question of ‘why the hell would he _care_ if his old man had extra money or not?’ “And… he’s still my _father,_ even if he’s not perfect. I can’t just… cut him out of my life completely!”

Man… he really didn’t understand this guy. But he could tell the guy cared enough about his old man getting this money to keep trying this dumb stunt, even if Michi _did_ stop him from sneaking out with Mondo’s bike _this_ time… And by the time they’d argued about it, he’d have missed _his_ chance to go to the library to!

“…Alright. _I’ll_ drive you there.” Ishimaru looked gobsmacked, “I mean, I _do_ think you’re a dumbass, but it’s still _your_ call, and I don’t wanna see what’d happen to Mondo if you went and got yourself killed being a total idiot about it…”

“Ah… _Thank you!_ Thank you so much!” Ishimaru leapt off the bike and waited for him to get on his, before clambering on behind him and wrapping his arms around his torso…

 _Fucking hell!_ Was that how tight he held _Mondo?_ “Dude, I ain’t your _boyfriend!_ Hold onto the damn _tank!”_ He snapped, tapping the thing so Ishimaru got the message about where exactly he was supposed to put his hands…

“Err… like _this?”_ He was able to breathe again as Ishimaru let go of him…

“Yeah… like that. Now _hold on!”_ Michi revved the bike into gear, wondering if he’d even be able to drive fast enough to get there and back with this guy before Mondo woke up and noticed they were both missing…

* * *

“Yo, we’re here.” Yukimaru casually declared after they’d been stopped for a moment…

“We are…?” Kiyotaka opened his eyes for the first time in several minutes, and managed to unclench all his muscles when he realised that they were, indeed, safely _stopped_ outside a somewhat run-down looking library…

The way Yukimaru drove, he’d honestly been thinking they’d run into something! Or that Kiyotaka was going to fall off the bike, as the position he’d been told to hold on in felt nowhere _near_ as secure as holding onto Mondo’s waist was.

“Yeah… that means you can get _off…”_ Yukimaru pointed out, as Kiyotaka must have been taking too long of a moment to catch his breath and count his blessings.

“Oh, right!” Kiyotaka apologised and climbed off the bike, somewhat clumsily as it seemed to shift under his weight a lot more than when Mondo was holding it. Maybe it _would_ have been better to have just asked Mondo to bring him here. He probably wouldn’t have minded a _little_ bit of rule-breaking, and Kiyotaka would have felt a lot _safer…_

“…Huh. You really _do_ trust Mondo to drive well, don’tcha?”

“What!? How did you know I was thinking that?” Kiyotaka jumped slightly at Yukimaru’s sudden comment.

“I didn’t.” The other boy scowled slightly at him. “I just meant you’re being even _more_ of a coward ‘bout riding with me _,_ than him!”

“Oh! I see…” Kiyotaka tried not to let Yukimaru’s choice of word bother him. It was rather hard to argue against being a coward when he was still trembling, but… “I’m just not used to riding these things, even with Mondo! Let alone at _that_ speed!”

“Yeah, I figured, but we needed to get a move on.” The boy shrugged, “You don’t want Mondo waking up and not being able to find you, do you?”

“Oh! No, of course not!” He was right, Kiyotaka didn’t have _time_ to be standing around shaking! “Let’s go!”

“Yeah…” Yukimaru sounded like he was probably rolling his eyes as Kiyotaka started making his way into the library…

At least it didn’t take Kiyotaka long to sort out the payment, not once Yukimaru had logged him into an empty computer and told Kiyotaka to meet him back at the front desk once he was finished. He even got back there before the bodyguard did, leaving him some time to idly look around the various posters and informative brochures they had on display… There was information on several local attractions and museums which looked like they’d have been fun to go to with Mondo, some support groups helping people to deal with various mental and physical problems, as well as some charitable groups the library seemed to be helping raise awareness of, like that children’s charity Kiyotaka had donated to last year and Bandai’s Hope Geoengineering Project…

…Wait _._ Hope _Geoengineering_ Project? Was _that_ what that was called? …Actually, thinking about it, he _had_ heard it called that, but he thought that the name had changed to Hope Cultivation Project now. And the headmaster hadn’t corrected him when he’d brought it up before…

…This was probably just an old poster, right? The library must have put it up a year ago and forgot to take it down, or something…

“Are you interested in volunteering for that?”

“Err…!” Kiyotaka was caught by surprise as the woman at the front desk suddenly spoke to him. “Pardon?”

“I asked if you were interested in signing up as a volunteer to help with the Geoengineering effort?” The woman explained, gesturing at the poster he’d been staring at, “If you are, I’d suggest applying quickly! That project is always popular!”

“Oh… err, no that wasn’t why I was looking at it…” Kiyotaka admitted, although on second glance it _was_ a recruitment poster, with a due date for applications dated for mid-October _this_ year. “So… this is a _recent_ poster?”

“Yes…? Well… It’s been a couple of months since it was sent to us.” The woman answered, sounding confused by the question. “Why do you ask?”

“Ah… It’s just, I’ve head of something called the Hope _Cultivation_ project, and I thought that was what _this_ was called, these days.” Kiyotaka explained, “So… now I’m wondering what _that_ is…”

“Hope _cultivation_ project?” The librarian thought about it, and tapped something out on her computer. “Hmm… I’ve not heard of it, and nothing’s coming up on Google! Maybe you just got the word mixed up?”

“Err… I suppose so. Thank you.” Kiyotaka nodded, and the woman turned to help Yukimaru check out the pile of books he’d just brought up to her…

But… he was _certain_ he’d not mixed the word up. It was _definitely_ the Hope _Cultivation_ project Hinai had asked about, and that was _also_ what he’d said to the headmaster! And the man hadn’t said a _word_ about him being wrong… he’d just finished off the conversation and started asking how Mondo was…

_(…did you talk to him about anything… unusual, then? Or important…? The school suddenly encouraging you and Mondo to leave... seems… suspicious…)_

…Could it be Kyoko had been _right_ to be suspicious of her father? He’d only found out about the Cultivation project because Hinai had been going through the finances… and now _she’d_ left the school and the school were refusing to show the Reserve Course the finances, even though it’d prove they _hadn’t_ been doing unlawful human testing that had lead to the student council being _murdered_ …

…Unless they _had?_ Was _that_ what ‘Hope Cultivation Project’ was the code word for? And _that_ was why it was hidden behind layers of sub-companies? But that was _crazy!_ They were a _government funded institution!_ They couldn’t _possibly_ have been doing things like that! There’d be no _end_ of trouble if it got out they’d broken the law…

“Hey… You coming back or what?”

Oh… looked like Yukimaru was finished. Guess that meant it was time to get back on the bike… _He’d_ be the one causing trouble if they didn’t get back on time…

…That amount of trouble would certainly make the school desperate to keep any news of this _hidden,_ wouldn’t it? Desperate enough that the headmaster would be willing to fly him out here, to the middle of nowhere with no way of gathering information, just because he’d so much as said the _name_ of the project…

But that would mean the headmaster was in on it! Which… made sense… he’d have to at _least_ be aware of what was going on in the school! But he wouldn’t have allowed _human experimentation,_ would he? He… he wasn’t _like_ that… Was he…? But if he _hadn’t_ approved of it, then why would it have gone ahead? So it _couldn’t_ have happened!

Except… There were _some_ decisions that were out of the headmaster’s hands, weren’t there? The _steering committee_ had the ability to force him to do things. What if _they’d_ wanted to go ahead with the experiments? They could have just… _ordered_ him to do it.

“We’re here… You seemed better this time.” Oh… that had been quick. Time to get off the bike already…

 _Would_ the headmaster have just… gone along with it? To keep his job? Couldn’t he have stood up to them, over something like _that!?_ Or had he just thought that there was no point? That the experiment wouldn’t be all that bad, and standing up to them would just get him replaced by someone more willing…

“Hey… you better go back to your tent, or Mondo’s gonna know you left…”

“Oh…” Yukimaru was right, wasn’t he? Time to go back to the tent… “Alright…”

“Cool… But… ‘Bout what we were talking about on Friday…” Yukimaru seemed to want to talk about something, but…

It was _possible…_ And it would explain why the headmaster had immediately suggested this trip… But the headmaster hadn’t looked worried when Kiyotaka had said he _wouldn’t_ go on it unless Mondo got _worse_ , had he!? He’d just let Kiyotaka go speak to the counsellor while he spoke to… _Mondo_ …

“And… Are you even _listening?_ The _hell_ is up with you? You _that_ scared of the bike? _”_

… _Mondo…_ Who’d _immediately_ had a panic attack. And started jumping at every shadow in every corridor… Who’d been so scared to stay in the school that he’d stopped sleeping and barely let Kiyotaka say goodbye to his friends…

“Hey!” Yukimaru was snapping at him, quietly. “That’s _your_ tent!”

Kiyotaka looked at where the boy was pointed. That _was_ his and Mondo’s tent. He had to go back inside… “Right…”

 _“Fucking hell…_ Just… remember to take off the bike gear, too!” Ah. That was a good point. He’d best do that straight away… He wouldn’t want Mondo to realise he’d been out without him… That might make him worse again…

Could it be…? The _headmaster_ had said something to him that had made him _worse…?_ Just to try and make sure Kiyotaka never found out what the Hope Cultivation Project really was? And that _he’d_ signed off on it!?

His blood felt cold… It… it couldn’t _possibly_ be true, could it!? The headmaster was… he was _nice!_ He was _kind!_ He…

He came from a family who were _really good_ at hiding their emotions…

 _Urrgghh! NO!_ Regardless of what the headmaster was like… The school couldn’t _possibly_ have hidden something like this for so long! He was just getting paranoid because of that stupid email video! _Right!?_ Hope’s Peak was a _good_ school being targeted by people who were jealous of its successes! He shouldn’t even be _considering_ the possibility that there was some scientific conspiracy going on behind the scenes!

…But what if it _was_ true, and he was just helping cover it up by ignoring it? Shouldn’t he at least _check…?_

“Hey… Taka?” Someone was shaking him… Oh, Mondo was awake. “What’s wrong? Did you… have a nightmare, or something…?”

“Err…” Kiyotaka’s mind froze as he looked at Mondo’s worried expression…

He looked upset enough at the idea of Kiyotaka having had a _nightmare…_ How could he _possibly_ bring up the possibility that the school they’d both been in just two weeks ago might have been conspiring to genetically engineer humans into killers? He hadn’t even told Mondo that video _existed!_ How could he even _start_ to suggest its contents were true…?

“Y-yes… Just a nightmare… Nothing _actually_ happened.” He lied. After all, it might _still_ just be a figment of his imagination… There was no _proof_ of any of it! And the school had been good to him… Didn’t it deserve a little faith on his end? Surely they wouldn’t _really_ experiment on people…

“…’Kay. Well… I’m here if you wanna talk about it…” Mondo sat up in his sleeping bag and put an arm around his shoulder…

Talking to Mondo… _was_ there something about it that was related to Mondo…? There’d been _one_ question he’d had regarding it…

“…What did the headmaster say to you, when I was speaking to the therapist?”

 _“Wh-what!?”_ Mondo was far too startled by the question, “Wh-what’s _that_ matter? Why would you think he _said_ anything to me…?”

“I just… I realised your panic attacks got a lot worse after you spoke to him and…”

“That… that wasn’t ‘cause of _him!_ I just… I just started having more of ‘em! That’s all! I dunno _why!”_ Mondo shouted, “But it wasn’t ‘cause of anything _he_ said! All we talked about was… school and shit! That’s all!”

They talked about _school?_ There was no chance of that actually being true, was there? Not with the way Mondo had reacted to the question… the headmaster really _had_ made him start worrying more than before… And he was probably too embarrassed to admit it…

But had it been _intentional_ on the headmaster’s part, or had Mondo just reacted badly to an innocuous comment? He wasn’t going to be able to get a straight answer from Mondo, so now it just came back to whether or not he trusted the school enough to ignore this…?

“…I’m serious, Taka! It wasn’t…” Ah… and now he was upsetting Mondo by getting distracted and not responding again…

“I believe you!” He lied. Whatever the truth was, there was no reason to upset Mondo any more than necessary. He’d just have to think through this himself. “It’s just… I’m sorry. I… I just need some time alone…”

 _Urgghh…_ He was so bad at this… He hadn’t even come up with a sensible reason for wanting to cut the conversation short!

“You mean to make up for the shit night’s sleep?” Luckily for him, Mondo came up with a good excuse for him, and gave him a quick kiss after he nodded. “’Course… You rest up in here… I’ll just bring some breakfast back for ya, then get outta your hair and take the gang out somewhere so you can get some peace and quiet for a while, okay…?”

“Th…thank you.” Kiyotaka hesitated for a moment, wondering if lying to Mondo was really the right thing to do… But it wouldn’t be right to make him worry. Not when he wasn’t even certain there _was_ a reason to worry… It would be much better if Mondo went out and had fun while he stayed and tried to sort his thoughts out… it shouldn’t take _too_ long… an hour or so… or maybe a few… _certainly_ not more than a whole _day_ …

* * *

(Monday October 8th 2012)

Ishimaru _still_ looked spaced-out as Yukimaru made his way back to the campsite _after_ school…

What the hell was going _on_ with him? He’d been acting weird ever since the trip to the library… He hadn’t even responded when Takemichi had tried to offer him one of those books he’d wanted and ask if he’d asked anyone _else_ in the gang to get out that one that he’d been looking at on Saturday, ‘cause it’d suddenly gone overnight! And it had been _way_ too long for it to just be ‘cause of the trip on the bike! This was more like he’d seen something that freaked him out while he was there, but he’d hardly spent _any_ time on the computer, and there wasn’t anything interesting up at the front desk of the library.

But there he was, stood in the middle of the path, barely outside of the camp. Like he’d started taking his afternoon walk and then just… got distracted and started thinking about something else. Heck, he didn’t even seem to notice Takemichi as he walked towards him…

And if Ishimaru had been like _this_ all day, then that probably meant _Mondo_ wasn’t gonna be much better! Hell, he’d spent most of their ride yesterday getting distracted and staring off back towards his tent, and even when he _wasn’t,_ he’d been riding real slow and bowed out of a bunch of races…

He’d heard some of the guys talking about it, wondering if there was a chance Mondo really was sick again… But it wasn't like Takemichi could just tell 'em he'd just been worrying ‘cause his secret _boyfriend_ was acting weird all day, and he couldn’t figure out _why, right!?_

So, Mondo _and_ everyone else was gonna be worrying until Ishimaru snapped outta whatever the hell _his_ problem was! And he'd waited _more_ than long enough for that! “Hey! Ishimaru…” He waved his arm near the guy as they were about to pass each other. “We gotta talk!”

“Hmm…” Ishimaru didn’t even _look_ at him… Had he even _heard_ him just now…? Or noticed him there at _all?_ At this rate Ishimaru was just gonna walk right past him, if he didn’t stop him…

“Hey! _Ishimaru!”_ He quickly pushed the palm of his hand onto the guy’s chest to hold him in place, which _finally_ got Ishimaru’s attention long enough to stop him in place…

“Why are you…?” Ishimaru blinked slowly at the hand on his chest. “Did… you want something?”

 _“Yeah!_ Like I just _said,_ I need to talk to you!” Takemichi snapped at him, “My hands there ‘cause you were so out of it that you almost walked right past without answering me!”

“Err… I…” Ishimaru stopped to consider that for way too long… “Sorry, I… I’m a bit distracted.”

“No _shit!_ You’ve been ‘distracted’ since we got back from the library!” Ishimaru didn’t even seem to react to him yelling at him… “What the hell’s going _on_ with you!?”

“…I can’t tell you…” Ishimaru muttered after way too long...

 _“Urrrrgghh!_ Why not!? _”_ Ishimaru didn’t answer, although it looked like he really _wanted_ to… _Dammit!_ This was going the way it had when he’d asked the guy about _Mondo…_ “Wait… is this about _Mondo!?_ ”

“Err…” Ishimaru hesitated… did that mean the answer was _yes…?_ Had he found out Mondo was even sicker than _he’d_ thought he was? “It… it’s _related,_ but it’s not the main thing I’m worrying about! And as I said before, _that’s_ nothing to worry about!”

“Then what the hell _is!?”_

“I _told_ you, I can’t _tell_ you that!” Ishimaru snapped, “It’s something I’m not allowed to tell people outside of Hope’s Peak!

Urgh… did that mean he’d been like this over some dumb school shit? Man, what a nerd… But that did make it easy to solve the problem… “Well… can’t you tell _Mondo_ about it, then? He’s worried about you…”

“Yes. I know...” Ishimaru sighed, “But… if I tell him, it’d make him _far_ more worried about it, and I _can’t_ do that! I just need a little time to work out what to do… by myself!”

“You’ve had almost _two days_ by yourself!” Takemichi pointed out, _“Most_ people woulda figured out an answer to their problems by now!”

“I… I know.” The nerd admitted. “But… Right now, I’ve got two options and I can’t figure out which is the right choice… And I can’t ask anyone else’s opinion because I’m not allowed to explain the situation to them…”

“Well… is there a way you could ask _without_ explaining it?” Takemichi asked, “Like… skip all the details, or come up with a similar made-up problem or something…?”

“Hmm… that might help!” Ishimaru nodded and thought about it a bit. “I supposed…. My main dilemma come down to… What would _you_ do if you thought that your headmaster might have… caused someone’s death, and had lied to you to cover it up?”

What!? Why was he acting like _that_ was some kinda difficult question!? “I’d fucking find some evidence and have that asshole hauled off to jail for murder!”

“Ah… _No!_ I… I didn’t mean they’d _murdered_ a person, just that they… Signed off on something that ended up… causing the deaths…” Ishimaru squirmed over the details.

“I’d still get the guy arrested!” Honestly, wouldn’t have surprised Takemichi if his headmaster hadn’t _already_ done something like that. There were enough rumours about some of the sports equipment and the building materials…

“You… you wouldn’t feel in the least bit conflicted about it?” Was this guy seriously expecting him to think twice about this…?

“Hell no, the guy’s a _prick!”_

“Err… _Oh!_ I see… that… probably wasn’t the best example for you, then…” Ishimaru looked at him like he’d suddenly noticed that he had a second head. “In that case… what if it was your favourite _teacher_ … one who’d been particularly caring and supportive to you over the course of…”

“Caring and supportive…?” Takemichi cut him off with a laugh. “That doesn’t sound like any teacher _I’ve_ ever had!”

“It doesn’t…?” Why was _that_ enough to make Ishimaru look at him with pity…?

“No… Hell, the only reason I haven’t flunked math is ‘cause Mondo taught me how to do it…”

 _“AAH! That’s_ a better example! _”_ Ishimaru suddenly pointed at him. “What would you do if you thought that _Mondo_ had caused someone’s death and was…”

“Mondo wouldn’t fucking _kill_ someone!” Takemichi snapped, “And he ain’t in any kinda position to ‘sign off’ on shit either!”

“Of course! He’d never kill someone _intentionally!_ I’m just using him as a hypothetical example! _”_ Ishimaru waved his hand about, “But, say, you thought he’d _somehow_ happened to kill someone _by accident,_ and was lying to you to cover it up… What… what would you do then…?”

“Huh… What if I thought _Mondo_ had got someone killed and was lying ‘bout it…?” Damn… on the one hand… Mondo would be to blame for someone’s _death,_ but… It’s not like he’d have _meant_ to do it! And he wouldn’t wanna get Mondo arrested, ‘cause then the _gang’d_ probably go kaput! “I…”

 _“WHAT THE **FUCK** ARE **DOING!?”**_ He didn’t get a chance to even _try_ and answer, ‘cause all of sudden Mondo’s voice screamed at them both. _“HAVE YOU GONE **INSANE** , TAKA!?”_

 _“Wh-what…?”_ Ishimaru just stood and stammered as Mondo stomped towards him. “What are you talking about, Mondo? We were just having a walk while you were asle…”

 _“DON’T GIMME THAT CRAP! C’MON!”_ Mondo grabbed his arm and started dragging him off away from the camp, pausing only to turn a glare at Takemichi… “AND DON’T **YOU** FOLLOW US! YOU GOT THAT!?”

“Uhh… Yeah, boss!” He answered before he even thought about it… Mondo _could_ still be fucking scary when he got pissed off…

But what the fuck _was_ he so pissed off about? Had Ishimaru done something back at the camp? He hadn’t _seen_ the guy do anything other than read books. So it was ‘cause he’d been talking to _him?_ But they’d just been talking about some dumb made up thing where his headmaster, or teacher, or Mondo had killed someone. Why would _that_ piss him off?

Unless…

No… No way…

He… He _couldn’t_ have!

But… what if he _had…?_

…Shit. He needed to _find_ _out_ at least! Then he could decide what to do about it…

It took a little while to catch up to them. Mondo seemed to have dragged his boyfriend a whole _mile_ away from camp, but soon enough Takemichi could hear Mondo screaming…

_“…DON’T GET IT! I **NEED** THE GANG, TAKA! IF THEY BREAK UP THEN… THEN I… I CAN’T…”_

There was a slight pause… Guess Ishimaru wasn’t yelling as loud as Mondo was…

_“THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYIN’ TA TELL ‘EM ‘BOUT **DAIYA!?”**_

**… _WHAT!?_** What did _Daiya_ have to do with Mondo… killing…

 **…** No. He… he… _wouldn’t!_ He _couldn’t_ have!

_“YOU **WERE!** I **HEARD** YOU! YOU… YOU WERE ASKING WHAT HE’D DO IF HE FOUND OUT I’D GOT SOMEONE KILLED AND WAS **LYING** ABOUT IT! WHAT THE FUCK ELSE…!?”_

_Not_ _intentionally…_

“AHH! Mondo, _NO!_ I… I didn’t even _think_ of that!” He was close enough now that he could hear Ishimaru too… “I… I just used you as an example because you’re the closest thing he has to an authority figure…!”

But if it had been an _accident?_ And _Mondo_ had been the one to cause it…?

_(“He was so desperate to win! He… he drove too fast… and in the wrong lane… right in front of a **truck** …!”)_

_…_ He’d never understood it. Not _really._ If _he’d_ been Daiya, he woulda just _let_ Mondo win the race, just to make handing the gang off a little easier…

 **_“BULLSHIT!_ ** _WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU JUST RANDOMLY ASK ‘IM SHIT LIKE THAT!?”_

He’d caught up to them now. Mondo had Ishimaru pinned up against a tree and was shaking him… but all Ishimaru was doing in return was crying in _pity_ at the guy, shakily trying to stroke whatever part of Mondo’s arms his hands could get to…

“I… I… I don’t know if I can tell you…”

 _“ **WHY THE FUCK NOT!?”**_ Mondo screamed in his face, “’CAUSE IT’S A FUCKING LIE, OR…!?”

“For what’s it’s worth, he was asking me ‘bout _headmasters_ killing people, before he brought _you_ into it…” Both of ‘em froze as Takemichi spoke up. “Now, what’s this about _Daiya!?”_

No answer from either of them… Ishimaru just looked down at Mondo and Mondo just stood there frozen in place, staring at Ishimaru in panic…

Shit… was it _true_ then? Had he really lied about Daiya’s death…? For two whole years!?

“...Are you gonna answer me or not!?” Goddammit… he wasn’t even sure it _mattered_ what had happened, he just wanted Mondo to tell him the fucking _truth!_ But he was just _standing_ there clutching onto Ishimaru, ‘cause of _course_ he’d told fucking _Ishimaru_ this fucking _secret_ he’d been keeping from _him_ all this time…!

“Daiya died in a traffic accident… A terrible, tragic _accident…”_ Ishimaru was the one who finally decided to speak up, “Do you really need to know the details…? You trust Mondo, don’t yo…”

“I _still_ deserve to fucking _know!”_ Ishimaru flinched as Takemichi’s voice exploded, “Daiya was one of my _friends,_ dammit! I need to know why he’s not fucking _here_ anymore! Hell, I’ve spent the last _two years_ wondering what the _fuck_ was going through his head that’d make him so desperate to win _one_ race that shouldn’t have even _meant_ anything to him anymore ‘cause he was gonna give the gang to you anyway! I just… I just need to know _what the hell happened!?_ Even if it’s only so the same shit doesn’t end up happening _again_ when _you_ go to hand over the gang to someone _else!_ ‘Cause… ‘cause I don’t want _you_ ending up dead like he did! So, _please,_ Mondo _…_ Just tell me what the fuck _happened!”_

“…It was me…”

“…What?” Did Mondo actually say something…?

“It… The one driving like idiot…” Mondo stammered louder, clutching onto Ishimaru’s arms for support and staring at the ground. “It was _me._ I… I was the one who drove too fast and ended up in front of the truck…”

“What…?” That made more sense… Mondo _had_ had something to lose back then… There’d been people talking about him not being a good leader, that’s why he’d challenged Daiya in the first place, wasn’t it!? “But… how come _Daiya_ was the one who…”

“He… he saved me.” Mondo croaked. “R… right at the last second… He side-swiped me outta the way… But… he couldn’t… he didn’t… and the truck…”

So that’s what happened. Daiya died ‘cause he swooped in at the last second and saved Mondo. Just like he’d always do… It all made sense, except for one thing… “Why’d you lie about it? You… you didn’t _really_ want us to think he was an idiot, didya…?”

“It… It was his last words…” Mondo told him, “He made me promise to keep the gang together… But if you’d all known it was _me_ that got him _killed…!”_

…Everyone who’d been thinking he wouldn’t make a good leader woulda _quit._ Or everyone woulda starting fighting each other over who’d be next leader and the gang woulda probably turned into five _different_ gangs…

“So you had to shit over his rep to give him his last wish…”

“…Yeah.” Mondo sighed, like it was all he could manage to say…

It was pretty much all there _was_ to say. What could he have done differently? Other than not get desperate and drive the way he did… But Mondo had probably been thinking that every day for the last couple of years. Aside from that, there wasn’t really anything he _could_ do, except deal with the consequences of what he’d done by keeping it all a secret…

“…And ya didn’t even tell _me_ …”

“Michi… I…” Mondo paused, then let go of Ishimaru and turned to face him… “I’m sorry ‘bout that. You always had my back… but you always acted like you thought it was _impossible_ for me to fuck anything up. I… I thought… If you found out I _had…_ You’d realise I wasn’t the man you thought I was and… I dunno… go support someone _better_ , or something…”

Yeah… He really _had_ thought Mondo was just this… perfect, tough-as-diamonds, badass _man_ back then. And he’d never even _thought_ that maybe it wasn’t true, until last spring break came along, and Mondo kept taking orders from a _hall monitor_ over the damn phone. What _would_ he have done if Mondo had tried to tell him that it was actually _him_ who’d messed up, and Daiya had died saving him, back when it _first_ happened?

“…I’d have probably said you were making it up. Like… you’d imagined it, ‘cause you didn’t wanna admit Daiya died doing something stupid, so you made up this cool story for him...” He admitted, and Mondo’s face twisted into a mix of gratitude, worry and confusion… “…Woulda fucked you up even _more,_ in the long run, wouldn’t it?”

“Probably…” Mondo agreed, sadly.

…And that was why he’d ended up telling the nerd, wasn’t it? The guy who’s whole deal _wasn’t_ insisting that Mondo could do no wrong, but that Mondo had very definitely done a shit-ton of stuff wrong _and here’s how we’re going to deal with that…_ And that’s how _Ishimaru_ had managed to meet a whole other side of Mondo that Takemichi had had no idea ever existed…

“…Are ya gonna tell the rest of the gang?” Mondo asked.

Now there was a hell of a question… They deserved to know. But was it right for him to just go and tell them all, right _now?_ “…I dunno. Kinda feels like _you_ should be doing that.”

“I…” Mondo looked over at Ishimaru for a moment, though _he_ looked too distracted to notice. “I… I _can’t…_ Not right now…”

“…Maybe that’s just as well. Let ‘em get used to the idea that you’re a _hu_ man, not just a _man,_ first. _”_ Takemichi agreed. “Just… promise me you’ll tell ‘em _before_ you hand the gang over, alright?”

“Yeah… that’s fair.” Mondo nodded. “Man’s promise.”

“Thanks.” He nodded back, then spent a moment trying to think if there was anything left to say. But there wasn’t, so he turned to leave. “See you guys later, then…”

* * *

_(“I just need to know what the hell happened! Even if it’s only so the same shit doesn’t end up happening again…!”)_

Kiyotaka sighed as Yukimaru’s words echoed in his head again, and shifted his position against Mondo in an effort to get more comfortable and distract himself with the sound of Mondo’s heartbeat…

But it was no use. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep.

 _He needed to know._ He needed to know what the ‘Hope Cultivation Project’ actually _was._ He needed to know why the headmaster had manipulated him into leaving the school the minute he mentioned it. He needed to know why Hope’s Peak didn’t have better evidence to refute the idea that they’d been involved in illegal human biological and genetic testing.

 _He needed to know why the student council had been murdered._ If only to make sure it never happened again…

And all those answers were back at Hope’s Peak… the place Mondo couldn’t deal with being in. Because he needed to be here with his gang, to feel safe.

…And probably actually _be_ safe, if Kiyotaka’s suspicions that the school itself _had_ inadvertently caused the deaths of the student council were correct.

He pushed his torso up, so he’d be able to look down at Mondo sleeping. His hair was down, framing his tanned face with golden waves, as radiant as the serene look of peace on his face…

He couldn’t help but pick up some of the strands of hair and run his fingers through them… They were soft and smooth to the touch, even _with_ the thin layer of grease and dirt from the events of the day.

Mondo was so handsome, even when he slept… If only Kiyotaka could kiss him without waking him up… But he couldn’t. He wanted Mondo to be able to sleep, safe and at peace, for as long as he needed…

And that meant leaving him here, safe with his gang.

It was a comforting thought, in a way. No matter what might happen with Kirigiri and the rest of the school, he’d know Mondo would be alright out here. Especially now that Yukimaru knew his secret. The only thing that might be a problem was Mondo’s panic attacks. He’d have to talk with Yukimaru and explain how to take care of Mondo when they happened. And of course he’d need to explain to Mondo why he couldn’t stay any longer at some point…

“Taka? What’s up…?” Below him, Mondo’s eyes squinted up at him.

“I couldn’t sleep…” Theoretically, he _could_ use that as a starting point for explaining what was going on and why he’d have to leave soon.

But it was the middle of the night, Mondo was barely even awake… “…And you look so handsome…” He admitted, before leaning down to kiss Mondo gently on the lips.

Mondo stared up at him for a moment, his cheeks turning ever so slightly pink, before he wrapped his arms around Kiyotaka’s back and pulled him down close enough to murmur in his ear. “…Thanks, Taka.”

He’d tell Mondo tomorrow… let them _both_ have one more night of peaceful sleep…

* * *

(Tuesday October 9th 2012)

“Ah… Yukimaru?” _Wow…_ He thought even _Ishimaru_ woulda waited longer than _this_ to try talking to him… it was barely halfway through the _morning!_ He probably would have had to start looking for him straight after breakfast in order to even _find_ him here! “Err… how are you?”

“Not really in the mood to talk, Ishimaru…” He answered bluntly, in the hope the guy would get it, not that he seemed to be moving. “Especially not to _you!”_

“Ah… I’m sorry. I know I messed up yesterday, and you deserved to find out about that in a better way, but…!”

“It’s ain’t just _that_ you messed up, Ishimaru!” Takemichi snapped at him without thinking, “It’s… it’s _everything!”_

“What!? What do you mean? I thought I’d been getting on quite well with everyone…”

“Yeah, _that’s the worst part about it!”_ Takemichi snapped, knowing how much of a dumbass he sounded like as he did it. “’Cause now, thanks to you, half the gang have fucking _library cards_ and have are starting to admit they’ve got fucking _hobbies!_ And it’s _your_ fault Mondo started wearing that dorky safety gear, and keeping up with school, and doing carpentry…”

“But… those are all _good_ things!” Ishimaru gaped at him, “Besides, you’re not even _right_ about the carpentry! That _wasn’t_ my doing!”

What the hell was he talking about!? “Bullshit! I saw those things he made you…! You’re saying you had _nothing_ to do with that!?”

“No! I’ll admit, of course I helped encourage him to keep trying to make things!” Ishimaru shrugged, “But… he’d already _started_ carving before we became friends… possibly even as far back as the first month of school.”

 _The first MONTH!?_ So… almost as soon as he left the gang? He was already thinking about that kinda thing back then? So… had he been thinking about it before even _going_ to Hope’s Peak!? Assuming Ishimaru was right… “But you ain’t sure?”

“No, all I noticed was he tended to spend time in the woodwork room, back then.” Ishimaru looked embarrassed, “Though at the time, I just assumed he was hiding from classes, or something. It never occurred to me that he might have been learning a craft in there…”

“Hah! You sound like a fucking _jerk!”_ Like Mondo musta been fucking off and couldn’t _possibly_ be doing something _good_ in a classroom!

“Yes… I suppose at times I was, looking back on it!” Ishimaru admitted with thought about it. “You could say it’s _Mondo’s_ fault that I stopped assuming the worst of everyone, and started taking time out with friends to enjoy myself, and letting myself be happy with things even if they aren’t perfect.”

The fuck was he talking, that being Mondo’s _fault!?_ “There’s nothing wrong with any of that shit!”

“Yes, exactly! Just like there’s nothing wrong with Mondo wearing a helmet when he’d driving!” Ishimaru snapped at him. “We changed each other, but people change over times regardless! And I think we changed each other for the better, even if there’s people in our lives who would have rather we had never changed at all! It’s not fair to be angry at me for helping Mondo and some of your gang… _grow UP!”_

 _“I KNOW!”_ He snapped. ‘Cause he didn’t need to be reminded of what an idiot he was being over this! “I _know_ it ain’t fair, and I’m just gonna have to fuckin’ deal with it, ‘cause that’s how it is now! I’ve been _trying!_ It’s just… I used to think this gang was… just this amazing group of awesome dudes who were strong enough to deal with anything and didn’t have any problems… ‘cept maybe other gangs and shit, y’know? Especially _Mondo!_ But then he left and _you_ showed up in his life, and he started changing… Or _not_ changing, just… not hiding his problems anymore! And he started noticing the _other_ shit everyone _else_ was hiding so _I_ started noticing all as well, and then _you_ show up in person and start making it _fucking obvious_ we’ve _all_ got problems and all we’re doing is making ‘em worse by trying to force each other to hide ‘em all all the time!”

Ishimaru just blinked at him while he caught his breath. He was probably gonna have to try and explain himself in a different way, wasn’t he…?

“Just… It’s like you’ve told me Santa ain’t real, or something…” Takemichi sighed, “Like… I _know_ it ain’t your fault I believed a bunch of crap! But I was _proud_ of the Crazy Diamonds, damnit! I was proud just to be a _part_ of it, let alone be left in _charge!_ Now, I ain’t even sure it’s right to keep it going at all! Maybe the best thing I can do is get rid of it altogether!”

“Ah… You really think it’s that bad!?” Ishimaru looked horrified.

“You _don’t!?”_ He’d honestly expected Ishimaru to agree with him! Maybe he was just overacting to the truth about how Daiya really died…?

“No! From what I’ve seen, you’re a large group of friends who are willing to all get together and work to help each other out! And you all enjoy each other’s company… that’s worth a lot, even if you might have a few… bad ideals that you’ve been spreading amongst yourselves.” Ishimaru waved his hands dismissively. “I know it must seem bad at the moment, especially after yesterday, but I’m sure with a good example from you and Mondo, you’ll be able to make the Diamonds into something you can be proud of, again!”

Make the Diamonds into something he could be proud of again, huh? “You make it sound easy…”

“I know… it won’t _be_ easy! But I do think the pair of you _can_ do it, for what it’s worth! I think you just need to start being a bit more honest with each other. Start admitting that there’s more to you all than just liking motorbikes and that you have problems you can’t just solve with punches!” Ishimaru said fiercely, “It would probably be easier than trying to convince all of them to _stop_ meeting up with each other!”

There was a point. Even if he and Mondo both quit, they’d probably all just start fighting over who the next leader would be and carry on as before once the dust had settled, wouldn’t they…? Or they’d just go off and join _different_ gangs, and those probably weren’t any better than the Diamonds were, so… “We might as well _try…”_

“Good! I’ll look forward to hearing how it’s going!” Ishimaru smiled.

“Whaddaya mean? You’ll be here too, won’t you?”

“Oh! Right, err…” Ishimaru cringed, “I forgot… that’s why I came to talk to you! I… I can’t stay here. I realised… there’s something going on at Hope’s Peak, and I need to go back and fix it! _Immediately!_ So… I need to tell you about the medical issue Mondo’s been having, so you know how to look after him in my place!”

“What!? You're just gonna tell me about that!? What happened to not wanting to piss of Mondo!?" And did he really think Mondo was just gonna stay here when _he_ was going back to their school!?

"I know it's not ideal, but he needs _someone_ around who understands what's happening! He’s having panic attacks... They were triggered by something that happened at Hope’s Peak, which is why we left!” Ishimaru held a leaflet out in front of him. “But he’s also had one here as well, which is why you need to know about them!”

 _“Panic attacks…?”_ That was why Mondo had come out here…?

“As I said before, they’re not fatal or anything! They usually only last twenty minutes, but they’re incredibly stressful for him, and it’s hard for him to tell what’s going on during them, so he needs someone to talk him through it calmly while it’s happening.” Ishimaru explained, “And he needs extra rest and to eat and drink afterwards. And no coffee!”

That was it!? Now wonder Mondo hadn’t wanted anyone in the gang to know about that… Most of their reactions woulda either been to laugh or tell him ‘Dude, just deal with it!’ “Well… This makes more sense than your headmaster telling him to bring you out here ‘cause someone’s tryin’ to kill you…”

“…Someone’s trying to kill _me!?”_ Ishimaru’s face froze, _“Just_ me!? _That’s_ what the headmaster told him!?”

“Hah! That’s what Mondo _said_ was going on…” Takemichi explained, expecting Ishimaru to laugh any second know. “I mean… He musta just made it up ‘cause he didn’t wanna tell us ‘bout the panic attacks, right…?”

“I… I don’t think so…” Ishimaru gulped. “I’m not allowed to explain it, but this is like… If I already suspected Santa Clause wasn’t real, but you just happened to mention seeing my parents buy the toys that ended up in my stocking.”

“What!?” Was he saying… he though the headmaster _had_ told Mondo that someone was trying to kill him? Then why the hell was he so calm about it!?

“I’m sorry. I really can’t explain right now.” Ishimaru shook his head and stood up, “I need to go and talk to Mondo…”

He didn’t even wait for a response before walking off, leaving Takemichi alone to try and think about how the hell he was supposed to be a good enough example to the other guys when he was almost as bad as most of ‘em! Especially now it seemed like Mondo was probably gonna end up following his boyfriend back to Hope’s Peak…

* * *

He really oughta go outside and talk to people… just to make sure they weren’t all wondering why the fuck he’d spent all day inside, if nothing else… Or maybe try and say hi to Michi and see how he was doing… Assuming the guy would even _wanna_ talk to him… Or wasn’t about to march in the tent and start bitching him out like he deserved…

 _Urrrggg!_ Why couldn’t he have stopped himself from freaking out for _once!?_ He shoulda known Taka wouldn’t actually just start blabbing his secret like that! But after the guy had been acting so weird since they argued about the phone, he’d just assumed the fucking worst, and started yelling like an idiot! And now Michi had found out in the _shittiest_ way possible and the thought of going out there and trying to look _any_ of the gang in the eye right now was making him wanna _puke…_

He shoulda gone out this morning, when Taka did… He’d had half a day to freak out and cry about it all with the guy yesterday, he shouldn’t have needed more time to mope in here by himself today!

…Woulda been nice if Taka had asked if he wanted to go out with him, though. Or at least said where he was going! Instead he’d barely given Mondo his cereal before marching back out the tent like he was on a mission. Which woulda been better than the vacant wandering around he’d been doing the last two days, but right now he just wished the guy was in here with him, where he could be sure he was safe and not doing anything that’d possibly fuck up this whole arrangement they had.

He should really go outside and check, but… _Urgh…_ Just thinking about it made him start tensing up… But he couldn’t just stay in here and hide from it all forever, eith…

“Mondo? Are you still here?” Mondo flinched as the tent flap opened, only for a wave of relief to wash through him when he realised it was Taka…

“You’re back!”

“Err… _yes!”_ Taka’s brows furrowed anxiously as he looked at him, and he stepped inside and sat next to him, placing a hand on his leg. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you…”

“That… that’s alright, it ain’t your fault.” Mondo admitted, “I’m being fucking stupid about this…”

“No you’re _not!”_ Taka argued gently. “You’ve had a lot to worry about, haven’t you? It’s not your fault you’re overwhelmed right now…”

“Even though half the shit I’m worrying about right now is stuff I could clear up if I just quit being a coward and went outside to…?”

 _“Yes._ Even if some things might not be as dire as you’re worried they are!” Taka insisted. “Besides, there’s something I need to tell you that might… clear up some of the things you’re worrying about.”

“You mean… what’s been bothering you the last two days?”

“Ah! You were still worried about that?” Taka asked, guiltily. “Well… _yes,_ what I’m going to tell you should answer that as well.”

“As well?” So it wasn’t _just_ that? But Taka hadn’t done anything else to make him worry…

“Yes.” Taka nodded, cautiously. “The main thing I need to talk to you about is… why the headmaster told you someone’s trying to kill me.”

 _SHIT! How’d he find out about that!? If he knew that was the case, who knows how much it’d fuck him up! He had to convince him it wasn’t true!_ “Who told you that!? Whoever it is, is a fucking _liar!_ R-remember what Kyoko told you…!?”

“Yes! I remember what she said, and I believe she’s right! No one is really trying to kill me!” Thank fuck Taka trusted her more than any of the gang! “But I _don’t_ believe Yukimaru was lying about the headmaster _lying to you.”_

“…Huh?” What did he just say!? He couldn’t have just said that, there was no way! “Did… did you say the headmaster _lied…!?”_

“Yes! What he told you was a lie. No one is trying to kill me!” Shit… he really _had_ just said that!

“But, Taka… Why the _fuck_ would he!?” It’s not like the guy had a habit of screwing with his students for the sake of it!

“I think he was trying to trigger more of your panic attacks.” Taka answered, pressing his thumb a bit deeper into Mondo’s thigh as he did. “So I’d think it was necessary to leave the school with you, like he’d suggested to me.”

Taka thought the headmaster had done that, just to get _him_ to leave!? “But you’re his favourite student! Why the hell would he want _that!?”_ If anything, it’d make more sense if he’d been trying to get rid of _Mondo!_

“Because I’d just mentioned the Hope Cultivation Project.” Taka answered…

“…The _what?”_ Was he supposed to know what that was? “What’s the Hope… Cultivation…? Proj…”

“Oh! I think it’s the name the school gave to… _errrrggg_ …” Taka trailed off, grimacing.

“What? What is it?” Mondo asked, to no answer. “Taka…?”

“Sorry! I just realised how much I’ve hiding from you, recently.” He finally answered, not that Mondo had wanted to hear him say _that!_ “And that it will probably be much easier to understand if I tell you everything from the beginning…”

“Alright…” Mondo nodded at him, “I’m listening.”

“Thank you… So… After the council were murdered, someone sent an email around to every student in the Reserve Course…” Taka started, “Which claimed that the school had been using the money they pay to attend Hope’s Peak to do illegal human experimentation… And that the person… or _a_ person, they’d experimented on was the person who killed the student council.”

 _“What!?”_ So… the council murder woulda been the _school’s fault!?_ “But… that doesn’t make sense! They said they didn’t know _who’d_ done it!”

“The email said the school was covering it up. That’s why they forbade us from even talking about the murders to anyone outside the school.” Taka told him, like he _actually_ believed this…!

“But… you ain’t really thinking that school was doing shit like that, right? Just ‘cause of one email? I mean, who knows what kinda nutjob it came from, right…?”

“That’s what I thought as well! And I immediately started trying to convince Hirayama that that was the case to!” Hirayama…? Oh, she was the one he’d helped set up a student council for the Reserves, right? “But she was too angry to listen, unless I was able to prove that none of the student’s money had been spent on illegal experiments.”

“How the hell could you prove that!?” It’s not like they had a way of tracking every single thing the school had ever bought, was it!?

“Well, _my_ suggestion when I was discussing this with the headmaster was that they could let the Reserve Course look through the school finances!” Oh… guess they actually _did_ track all that stuff? Did that include all the motorbike parts he’d bought with his financial help money, too…? “But that’s when I mentioned that if they _did_ do that, they’d need to explain why some projects are funded by the school going through suspicious-looking subsidiary companies and third parties- like the ‘Hope Cultivation Project’ that the Ultimate Columnist asked me about last year…”

“Ya _still_ ain’t told me what that is, Taka…” Mondo pointed out.

“Sorry! It’s a bit complicated! You see, at the time, I _thought_ that name was for a project that Daisaku Bandai- the Ultimate Farmer from Hope’s Peak’s 66th class- was leading to increase how much farmland there is in Africa…” Taka explained, but why the hell was that a problem? “And _that’s_ what I told the headmaster, right before he came up with this idea of me leaving the school! _And_ refusing to allow me to have internet access or phone calls while I was here, so I’d be left without any means of realising my mistake!”

“What mistake?” He had a bad feeling about this…

“…I found out Sunday morning that Bandai’s project is called the ‘Hope _Geoengineering_ Project.” Taka sighed. “And that there’s no mention at _all_ on any websites of the Hope _Cultivation_ Project…”

“Then… what the fuck _is_ it!?”

“That’s… that’s what I’ve been thinking about, this whole time.” Taka admitted, “The only thing that makes sense to me is… that it must be the codename for the human experimentation.”

 _“WHAT!?”_ How’d he gone straight to that!? “Why’s it gotta be _that!?_ What if it’s just… some _other_ shady shit they don’t want people knowing about!”

“I hadn’t thought of that…” _For fuck's sake!_ He’d been worrying himself for two days ‘cause of that! “But that would _still_ mean that the headmaster is up to something that’s so bad he’d rather traumatise _you_ than have it come to light!”

“Ngghh…” Damnit, he hadn’t thought of it like that! But if Taka was right, then it didn’t really matter _what_ this Hope Cultivation thing _was,_ just that it exisited! But it just seemed so… _crazy_ that the headmaster would lie to him, just to cover up some project that Taka had _kind of_ heard about… “Alright, but… wouldn’t it just make more sense to think the headmaster was telling the truth, and ya _were_ in danger at the school!?”

“But… as Kyoko said, then they could have just waited for a week before attacking the student council! Or those bears could have stormed the airport terminal and attack me _there!”_ Taka argued.

“But… what if they weren’t able to, for some reason. Like they’d planned it all too far in advance to know you weren’t there when they thought you would be!”

“Nggh… M-maybe…? Th-that could be…” Taka looked sick, “I know it _could_ be… But I don’t know for _sure_ if it _is!_ That’s the problem! I know _something’s_ wrong, but I don’t know _what_ it is! Either me being here is putting your gang in danger of whoever might be trying to kill me, or it means I’m leaving my friends at school in danger of whatever the Headmaster’s up to!”

…He thought the guys back at school might be in danger? Because of the _Headmaster!?_ “You really think that? But… I thought you _liked_ the headmaster!”

“I _do!_ I really do! That’s why it took me so long to tell you about this.” Taka gulped… he was trying to fight back tears. “I don’t want to believe the headmaster was lying to you! Or that he signed off on using the reserve course funding for illegal science! Or that he’s knowingly covering for the murderer of the student council! Even if turned out that all he’s doing is following the Steering Committee’s orders, I’d be devastated! But… I can’t just _trust_ him, either! There’s too much going on for me to just… stay out here and pretend it’s all okay!”

 _Fuck._ That probably meant… “…You wanna go back to Hope’s Peak.”

“I’m sorry.” Taka nodded, then tried to wipe away the tears pouring from his eyes. “But… _yes!_ I’ll understand if you want to stay here, especially now I’ve told you that the danger at school might go all the way to the top! But I need to go back and find out the truth!”

 _He’d understand if Mondo wanted to stay!?_ “You still don’t fucking _get_ it, do you…?”

_“H-huh?”_

“Why I’ve been freaking out! You still think it’s ‘cause I’m scared of getting attacked, don’t you!?” Mondo snapped at him.

“Well… _aren’t_ you…?”

 _“NO!_ I don’t give a _shit_ about myself!” Mondo yelled, “I’ve been worried that _you’re_ gonna get hurt! Or _killed!_ And then I’d have to live the rest of my life knowing I’d never see ya again because _I fucked up!”_

“That… that’s why…?” Taka was too shocked to do anything about his tears now. “Why didn’t you just _tell_ me!?”

“’Cause… I didn’t want you to think you might have been the target of those attacks…” Mondo admitted, “Sakura told me you didn’t take it well when she said that maybe the airplane was ‘cause of you and her, and I know you sure as hell wouldn’t cope with the news that the council were dead ‘cause you were supposed to be in the meeting that night…”

“I… I know I wouldn’t have taken it well…” Taka admitted, “But I could have coped! You didn’t have to keep it secret from me! Not when it was worrying you _that_ much!”

Oh, _he_ could fucking talk! “Well, what about _you!?_ Hiding all this human experiment shit from me! Why the hell didn’t you just tell me about it when you first heard about it!?”

“Because I didn’t want to remind you of that picture!”

“What picture!?” He didn’t remember any picture…

“The one that triggered that first panic attack!” But that hadn’t been triggered by a picture! “Hirayama made that picture while we were…”

“Taka… what are you talking about!? I didn’t have that attack ‘cause of a picture!” Mondo told him, “I… I’d had this fucked up dream where all the student council members were piled up in a bloody heap, and _your_ head was floating there in the pile with ‘em, and then it screamed and I woke up! _That’s_ what made me freak out!”

Taka’s brows furrowed, and he shook his head. “No, Mondo… I think you’ve mistaken the memory for a dream. What happened was, I’d screamed when I saw the picture of me and the headmaster photoshopped onto the murder scene, which woke you up. You then grabbed my tablet off of me before I could stop you and looked at it as well. Then that’s when you had your panic attack!”

Was that what happened!? He had to admit he didn’t exactly remember it all that well, but then… “Why the _hell_ did you have a picture of you and the headmaster photoshopped onto a murder scene!?”

“Hirayama made it, when we were arguing about the human experimentation. She said it… would be a good improvement to the school.” Taka explained, in a stiff voice that made Mondo wanna punch something and throw up at the same time. “That’s why I thought it’d be better not to mention any of that conversation to you…”

“The _fuck!?”_ She thought Taka being _dead_ would _improve_ shit!? How the hell could she say something like that! “I thought she _liked_ you!? And you helped her with all that council crap!”

“I know, but she’s been getting frustrated that her work on that isn’t leading to much in the way of improvements to the Reserve Course, then she got that email saying that the money her family paid for her to go there has actually been spent on unethical science that resulted in the death of the student council!” Taka tried to cover for her… “And I took three days to even notice she’d sent me emails to ask whether the video was true or not… during which time she and her schoolmate’s attempts to demand answers from the school led to some of them being _assaulted_ by the guards, from the sounds of it! And then _I_ finally blunder in _far_ too late and start trying to stand up for the headmaster…!”

“But none of that’s _your_ fault!” Mondo told him, “And even if it _was,_ that’s still a fucked up thing to do!”

“I know… I’m worried about her. And the other Reserve Course students!” Taka missed his point completely… “They’re _furious_ about this, and the school wasn’t doing _anything_ about it! I’m honestly worried they might still all be outside the front gate, like when we left…”

“Eh? The Reserve Course was out there!?” Mondo tried to remember if he’d looked out the window as they flew out… no, he’d just been looking at how upset Taka was over that parade… “Hang on! You told me there was just a parade out there!”

“Argh… That’s just what the school was calling it, to save face.” Taka sighed, “The Reserve students had been protesting and trying to get through the school gates since they got that email…”

“I guess that explains why none of you wanted to go, huh…?” Was Mondo’s first though. “Why the hell didn’t you guys tell me!?”

“Well, the first time, I didn’t realise you didn’t _know,_ yet! I assumed you’d have seen it!” Taka argued, “And while we were in the helicopter… I’d spent several days thinking you were afraid for your life in the school! I wasn’t about to start a conversation about the two-thousand people who were currently attempted to break into it!”

“Urrghh…” He had to admit it was a fair point… and he’d _made_ it a fair point by lying about all this in the first place…

“But you were never worried, were you? Not about yourself…?” Taka sighed, “I guess this won’t be as easy after all…”

“What do you mean!?” Why would it make things harder?

“Last night I was thinking it would be easier to go face the headmaster if I knew that, even if it went wrong, at least you’d be safe here...” Taka admitted, “But now I’m assuming you won’t want me to leave by myself.”

“The _hell_ I won’t!” Fuck that idea! “I’d rather _you_ stay here and _I’ll_ go find out what the fuck’s going on back at the school!”

“Ahahaha! Yes, I suppose you would!” …Hold on. Now Mondo had said it… why _couldn’t_ Taka stay here while he went back…? “Haha… Err… Mondo? You’re not actually suggesting we do that? Are you!?”

Dammit, of course Taka didn’t wanna, but… “Well, why _not!?”_

“Because I don’t _want_ to stay here!” Taka snapped.

“But _you_ woulda left _me_ behind!”

“I was only planning to do that because I thought you’d _want_ to stay behind!”

“Why the fuck would you think _that!?”_

“Because you convinced me you were afraid of the school!”

 _“Grrrgh…”_ Goddammit! He didn’t have anything to say to that! But… “Well, I don’t care! I still don’t want you to go back there! With _or_ without me!”

“But… why _not!?”_

“’Cause it’s _dangerous!_ And someone’s trying to kill you!” Mondo spat out, only to realise it wasn’t right. Or might not be right…

“But… I just told you…”

“I know! I know, I just… I’ve been thinking it this whole time, alright…?” Mondo stopped Taka from repeating it again. “That I’ve gotta protect you, or… I’m gonna _lose_ you. So… right now it doesn’t make sense for me to let you go somewhere that even _you_ think might be dangerous!”

Taka’s face twisted between several different expressions before settling on tired concern… “What if… What if I give you some time to think about it?”

Would he be likely to change his mind on this…? “…I dunno.” Taka looked confused by the answer. “I mean… I’m alright with saying you can ask again tomorrow, but I ain’t making any promises about what the answer will be!”

“Alright then! I’ll ask you tomorrow.” Taka nodded, “In the meantime, would you like me to leave you alone to think, or…?”

“No! You fucking stay _here!”_ Mondo grabbed him around the arms and pulled him close, so he couldn’t leave…

“Alright…” Taka laughed softly, and twisted his body so he was leant against Mondo. “I’ll stay here then…”

Dammit… he’d just pulled Taka close without thinking about it. How the hell would he even manage to leave the guy behind? Maybe it’d be better to stick together after all? But then Taka might get hurt, or worse…

Compared to this, talking to Michi about yesterday seemed like it’d _easy…_ Maybe he oughta get that done first. Make sure he actually _did_ it before he got too deep into figuring out what to do about Taka…

…Once he’d spent a little more time hugging the guy, anyway.

* * *

It was just about time for dinner when Mondo finally showed his face, making a bunch of excuses about being sick, or something…

Takemichi was pretty sure the gang wasn’t buying it. They’d probably heard some of the yelling yesterday, noticed him bunking off school this morning and clocked the worried glances Ishimaru had been giving Mondo the whole way through dinner. They knew _something_ was up, but none of ‘em wanted to be the guy who kicked a hornet’s nest and _asked_ about it, so they all just pretended to believe the boss was sick, while _he_ tried to pretend he didn’t keep looking at Takemichi every couple of seconds...

At least until they’d eaten, anyway. After that Ishimaru asked if anyone wanted anything read to ‘em, (but only once Mondo had whispered something into his ear…) and once the gang had finished squabbling over it and were listening, he quietly got up and gestured away from the group with a questioning look on his face…

Alright. Time to see what Mondo had to say. Probably that he was gonna be leaving soon…

“Hey…” Was what the guy started with. “I know this ain’t gonna cut it, but I’m sorry ‘bout yesterday. That wasn’t how you shoulda found out. I shoulda just told you… warned you I was about to drop a bombshell on you… all that shit.”

“I figured.” Nice to hear the guy say it, though. “It’s not like you planned that shitshow, was it?”

“Hah! No… ‘course I didn’t!” Mondo forced a laugh. “But, uhh… How you doing, now?”

“Ishimaru didn’t tell you?” Or maybe he had, and Mondo just wanted to hear it straight from him…

 _“WHAT!?”_ Mondo got _pissed…_ didn’t he know they’d talked!? “Was _that_ what he was doing this morning!? Pestering _you!?_ Fucking hell, Michi! I’m sorry! I figured even _he’d_ know it was a bad time to get at you for skipping one fucking day of…”

“That wasn’t why he came to talk.” Takemichi cut him off, “And honestly… It was a pretty good chat. Gave me some stuff to think about.”

“Eh? Really?” Mondo looked surprised, “What sorta stuff?”

“Ehh… Stuff like… How I can try and be a good example to the gang… Or a _better_ one, at least.” He didn’t really feel like going into that whole thing again, especially not the part where he spoke about Ishimaru pissing him off _with Ishimaru_. “Might encourage some good changes ‘round here. Y’know…”

“Wow… Really? You mean that?” Did Mondo need to look _that_ fucking shocked!? “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you wanted shit to _change._ You’re usually more about making sure shit _doesn’t_ change!”

“I know… Whenever my life changed before, it’s been _shitty_ changes! Joining the gang’s the only good thing I can think of that happened to me… and even then, Daiya died, then you left, then you made friends with _him…”_ Shit… he’d just started ranting and ended up badmouthing Ishimaru!

Not that Mondo seemed to care. He was just sat there waiting for Takemichi to carry on, and only spoke up when he couldn’t think of anything _to_ say… “So, what’s different now?”

“Well… knowing what really happened to Daiya… I guess I realised that wasn’t a _change._ It was just shit hitting the fan. And that shit had been piling up for months…” At least, he’d been hearing people badmouth Mondo for months before that race happened. “And that got me thinking… that’s the case with a lot of those changes, right? Like… You didn’t just suddenly make friends with a nerd and start ignoring me, you’d been hiding a bunch of shit from me ‘cause you knew I wouldn’t accept anything that didn’t fit my image of you, and then you met a guy who saw past all that and still liked you anyway.”

“I… Uhh… yeah.” Mondo started talking ‘cause he’d stopped again. “That’s… pretty much why, yeah.”

“Yeah, so… I realised… if I don’t want shit to suddenly hit the fan like that again, I can’t just sit around pretending it ain’t piling up around me.” Takemichi suddenly remembered the point he’d been trying to make. “I’ve gotta start cleaning that shit up _before_ it becomes a problem! That’s why I wanna start making some changes around here!”

“Damn, that’s… that’s deep, dude! I… I’m glad you’re doing alright. And… and managed to sort that shit out.” Mondo shuffled around awkwardly for a bit… “But, y’know. If ya wanna talk stuff out ever again, I’d wanna hear it! And I’ll make sure I fucking _listen_ to you, this time! ‘Cause I’m know there’s been times when you tried to tell me stuff I wasn’t ready to hear it, but… Well… Y’know…”

“Yeah… I know.” The big idiot _had_ got better at listening… “That’s one change that ain’t so shitty.”

“Thanks, man…” Mondo grinned, “So… what’s your plan for being a good example to the gang, then?”

“Ehh… I ain’t got any specific plans yet… It’s just… I figured I’ll try talking to people ‘bout more of their hobbies, instead just pretending they don’t have ‘em.” He admitted, “Maybe try and tell ‘em some more stuff about myself…”

He wasn’t so sure about that one though. There wasn’t much he didn’t tell ‘em already. ‘Cept maybe the whole truth ‘bout why he hadn’t tried anything with any of the girls they’d seen stalking him. But that probably wasn’t a good one to start with, was it?

“You’re… worried about it though, aren’t you?” Mondo asked, anxiously.

“Thing is, Ishimaru seemed to think _we_ could do it… As in me _and_ you.” Takemichi told him, “But… you ain’t staying, are ya?”

“How’d you know…?”

“’Cause the reason Ishimaru came to talk to me was so he could tell me ‘bout those panic attacks you’ve been having before he left.” Takemichi showed Mondo the pamphlet the guy had given him earlier. “Course, I figured that’d mean you’d end up going _with_ him, so…”

“Well… Yeah, you’re right that I’ve gotta go back to Hope’s Peak.” Mondo sighed, “But I ain’t sure if I’m gonna be taking Taka back with me or not, yet…”

“You _what!?_ You’re thinking of leaving him _here_ while _you_ leave!?” Was he for real!? “What’s the point of that!? You think _he’d_ do a better job of helping me out than _you_ would!?”

“No, that ain’t it at all!” Mondo cried. “It’s just… there’s some bad shit that happened back there, and if Taka’s right, then it’s the guys in charge who caused it! And if he _ain’t_ right then it probably means someone there really _is_ trying to kill him! Either way, I ain’t exactly eager for him to go back there!”

So… Mondo really thought that whole ‘someone trying to kill Ishimaru’ thing could be true? It wasn’t just some shit he made up to hide the real reason he was out here?

“…You think I’m nuts, don’t you?”

“No…” Ishimaru certainly hadn’t thought Mondo was crazy, just being _lied_ to… “I just… what the hell’s going on there!?”

“They told us they’d kick us out the school if we told anyone ‘bout it.” Mondo answered, looking around… “So if I’m gonna tell you, you gotta keep it secret, okay?”

“Got it.”

“…Someone murdered our whole student council. Well… _almost._ The chairman’s in a coma and the bodyguard’s not been touched, but otherwise…” _Holy shit!_ Wasn’t the council actually a big deal in Hope’s Peak!? “And if it hadn’t been for Taka getting caught up in that bombing at the airport, then he and three of my class woulda been in the room with ‘em when it happened…”

“Fucking hell… I had no idea!” How had he not heard about this!? Even in _his_ school, a whole bunch of dead students would make the news!

“Yeah, ‘cause we’ve all been told to keep our traps shut about it!” Mondo reminded him. “Either ‘cause it might encourage some _else_ to try and sneak in the school the same way the murderer did, _or_ ‘cause the school’s trying to cover up the fact that they caused it, depending on whether Taka’s right or not.”

“Man, that sure is some shit, alright.” Was all he could think to say. “I guess I see why you thought someone might be trying to kill him?” Two attacks in… what, a week or so? That’d be a hell of a coincidence!

“Yeah, but Taka’s thinking the fact both these things just missed him means that _ain’t_ what happened, and then the Headmaster’s done some suspicious shit as well, including sending us out on this trip…” Mondo frowned, “That’s why he wants to go back.”

“So… _that’s_ why he’d been trying to ask me about what I’d do if I thought my headmaster might have murdered someone?” Mondo’s face scrunched up as he said that… “Y’know… that question that led to him asking what I’d do if I’d thought _you’d…”_

“Oh… Yeah _. That_ …” Mondo grimaced, “Yeah… I guess that makes sense. The headmaster’s kind of a role model for him… Or… _was_ a role model, I guess…”

Meaning the guy was in a similar position to him a couple of days ago. He had a feeling _something_ was up, but the only way to know for sure was to chase after the guy and demand an answer!

But Mondo was talking about leaving Ishimaru _here,_ instead.

“Mondo… I know you know him better than me.” Takemichi started, “But… Do you really think he’ll stay here and wait while _you_ go back and find out what’s going on there?”

“I dunno. That’s part of why I ain’t sure about leaving him.” Mondo sighed. “Knowing him, there’s half a chance he’d sneak off and hike his way back anyway.”

...Or try and use someone else’s bike!

“Arrgghh! But this ain’t what I’m supposed to be thinking about, now!” Mondo facepalmed. “I was supposed to be asking if _you’re_ alright and if there’s anything I can do to help you!?”

“Ehh… I mean, you already asked how I am…” And it was obvious that asking ‘do you mind staying?’ wasn’t gonna get a ‘yes’! So the only other thing was… “I guess it’d help if there was anything you’ve been hiding from the gang, that you could tell ‘em about?”

“…You mean… like _Daiya?”_ Mondo grimaced.

“N-no! Not _that!”_ That’d probably be _too_ much, right now! “I meant more like… how you like fluffy white doggies! Or something like that!”

 _“Oh!_ Oh… _gotcha!”_ Mondo looked like he coulda almost collapsed from relief. “Y-yeah… I can do that!”

“Great…” That’d be a start, at least. And maybe he’d be able to ring Mondo up and ask for some bigger stuff later on. Like maybe something at Christmas, if the gang was ready… “Thanks, Mondo.”

“No problem.” Mondo scratched the back of his neck. “Now, uhh… before we go back… There’s something else I wanted to do… In case I don’t get a chance to talk to you alone before I leave.”

“Eh? What’s tha…” Takemichi didn’t even get to finish his question before Mondo suddenly stepped into his personal space and wrapped his arms around his back… _“What the…!?”_

“I just wanted to say goodbye properly, this time.” Mondo muttered, while… _hugging_ Takemichi tightly. “And… I’m sorry I ain’t been a great friend. You’re a better guy that I deserve to have watching my back…”

…This was weird. _“…_ Don’t worry ‘bout it. You’re getting better at it.” A nice kinda weird, though… maybe… How long was Mondo gonna do this for…?

“Thanks, man.” Takemichi felt Mondo’s arms unwrapping from his back, as the guy straightened back up. “A-anyway, I’d better get back and see if Taka’s getting on okay…”

“Y-yeah! Yeah, let’s go.” Takemichi nodded as Mondo coughed in embarrassment and turned away, like he was just gonna pretend nothing had just happened…

 _…Fuck that!_ He’d said he was gonna be more honest, so… “Thanks for the hug.”

It hadn’t been much. But at least it’d been _something…_

“…No problem…” Mondo only stumbled for a moment, before carrying on walking back to the rest of the gang…

* * *

(Wednesday October 10th 2012)

Kiyotaka awoke to the feeling of fingers slowly stroking through his hair…

“…Mondo?” He blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he realised what was going on. It wasn’t often that Mondo woke up before _he_ did. “Have you been awake for long?”

“Yeah… woke up while it was still dark. Been trying thinking ‘bout what to do, since then.” Mondo answered, “And _you’ve_ woke up later than usual.”

“Ah… yes. I wasn’t able to go to sleep very quickly, last night.” Kiyotaka told him…

It wasn’t the whole truth, though. The _truth_ was that he’d not _let_ himself go to sleep until Mondo had fallen asleep and he’d been able to hide his keys in his own suitcase.

Now it was morning, that felt a little… extreme. Mondo hadn’t, as he’d been worrying, decided to try and sneak off back to Hope’s Peak without him! In fact, he’d not even decided to leave and go out for breakfast! Chances were, now that he’d calmed down and thought about it, he might have realised how ridiculous his whole ‘go back alone’ idea would actually be!

“Have you come to a decision, about us going back to school?” Kiyotaka asked, hopefully.

“No.” _So much for that…_ “But I know how I’m gonna decide. I just need to ask you a question.”

“Oh, I see!” So they should be able to sort this out quickly, then! “Go ahead!”

“Uhh… alright, but I wanna sit up for this.” Mondo insisted, “Can’t argue with you when we’re cuddling…”

“…I see.” Kiyotaka rolled himself off of Mondo and started undoing his sleeping bag so he could sit up, while Mondo did the same. All of a sudden, hiding those keys didn’t feel as ridiculous anymore. “So… what’s your question?”

“I wanna know, why’d you wanna go back.” _Urrrgh!_ Kiyotaka had explained all of that _yesterday!_ Why was Mondo asking…? “I _ain’t_ saying ‘why don’t we just leave shit the way it is?’ I _know_ someone’s gotta figure out what’s going on back there and sort it out! What I’m asking is, why’d you want that someone to be _you!?”_

“What do you mean, why _me!?_ Who _else_ would do it!?”

 _“I_ would!” Mondo started, “Or we can borrow someone’s phone and tell Kyoko you remembered something important and have _her_ look into it! She’s good at that kind of shit!”

Send Kyoko a message? It was certainly _doable,_ but… “I can’t just do that!”

“Why _not!?”_

“Because it’s _my_ responsibility!”

 _“HOW!?”_ Mondo cried, “You didn’t cause _any_ of the shit going on back there! How’s it _your_ job to deal with it!?”

“I… I told the Reserve Students I’d help them, and…”

“You told them you’d help ‘em do shit like set up a council!” Mondo snapped at him, “That doesn’t make it your job to deal with how pissed off they are at shit that the _school_ was doing wrong!”

“But… _I’m_ the one who’s had this information for several weeks, and _ignored_ it!” Kiyotaka switched his argument. “It’s _my_ fault we’ve not done anything about it sooner!”

“Just ‘cause you were the one who happened to stumble on this shit doesn’t mean it’s your job to fix it either!” Mondo argued, “You could tell Kyoko ‘bout it and…”

“It’s not _her_ job to fix this, either!” Kiyotaka stopped him, “Unless the headmaster has an extreme change of heart, then whoever ends up dealing with this will be someone who shouldn’t have had to do it! So why can’t it be _me!?”_

“Taka… I ain’t saying it _couldn’t_ be you!” Mondo looked like he was trying to calm himself down, “I’m asking why you can’t just let it be someone _else_ who fixes shit for once!?”

“Because I _want_ to fix things! To fix _this!_ ” Kiyotaka shouted, before he really thought about it. “And… and I want to be there to make sure it really _is_ being dealt with!”

“So… you wanna go back ‘cause you can’t trust us to sort this out without you.” Mondo summarised.

“I… It’s not that I don’t _trust_ you.” Kiyotaka tried to explain, “It’s just… Even if I knew you were working on it, I’d want to know what was going on all the time, and not being able to contact you or get involved myself would be excruciating! I’d just be sat worrying about it all the time!”

“Yeah, I get what you’re talking about.” Mondo patted his shoulder, then let out a heavy sigh. “But that ain’t a good enough reason to risk your life.”

 _“What?”_ Did Mondo mean what Kiyotaka thought he meant? “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I ain’t taking you back.” Mondo turned away from him and stood up. “Not if you’re only reasons are ‘cause you think this is on _you_ to sort out, and you’ll feel left outta the loop if you don’t.”

 _Those were perfectly valid reasons for him to go!_ But it seemed Mondo was still dealing with his paranoia… Perhaps it’d be best to find a better place for those keys. Once Mondo went outside for breakfast, he could wait a few minutes and then sneak out and find somewhere in the forest to bury them, or something…

“…Where are my keys?” Kiyotaka froze at Mondo’s question… He’d noticed they were gone already!? He hadn’t even finished putting his coat on!

“Err… D-didn’t you have them last…?” Kiyotaka tried to keep his voice level as he answered, only for Mondo to turn and glare at him… “Wh-when did you last use them...?”

Mondo didn’t even answer him, he just glowered around the tent for a moment, before making a beeline straight for Kiyotaka’s suitcase…

“W-wait a moment!” Kiyotaka didn’t even have time to stand up before Mondo had knelt down, opened the lid, and taken his keys back off the top of his books…

“You tried to hide my keys…” Mondo growled.

“Well, of _course_ I did! You were talking about going back to Hope’s Peak and just… leaving me _here!_ Did you really expect me to just _accept_ that!? To just _agree_ to sit here and worry about you and all my other friends for weeks or months!?” Kiyotaka yelled at him, but all Mondo did was tilt his head, like he was mulling it over… “Because I can tell you, I _WON’T!_ I won’t just idly sit here while my friends could be in danger! Even if you go and smash up that phone so I can't contact the school, I’ll find another way back to Hope’s Peak! Because I won’t leave them there, and I can’t just expect them to deal with all this without me!”

“…Alright… I get it...”

 _“No!_ Don’t just say you ‘get it!’” Kiyotaka cut him off, “Because if you really ‘got it’ then you wouldn’t even _suggest_ leaving me here! Do you remember when you told me you wouldn’t make me choose between you or my friends!? Because _this is worse than that!_ You’re not even letting me _choose!_ You’re just telling me I don’t get to see _any_ of you!”

“But, I was trying to…”

“No ‘buts’, Mondo!” Kiyotaka stood up, and started getting dressed. “I’m not arguing about this anymore!”

“Neither am _I!”_ Mondo yelled, making Kiyotaka instinctively put up his guard ready for a fight. “I was _trying_ to say I’ll let you come with me!”

“…What?” Did he mean that? “But… why did you change your mind?”

“You said you’d be worrying ‘bout our friends…” Mondo explained, _“That’s_ good enough of a reason to risk your life.”

“… _That’s_ what you wanted to hear? That I was worried about our friends?” Kiyotaka waited a moment to make sure Mondo wasn’t about to correct him… _“That should have gone without saying!_ Of course I’m worried about our friends! Why the hell _wouldn’t_ I be!? Aren’t _you!?”_

“Urgh… ‘course I’m worried ‘bout them!” Mondo grumped, “But I just… I wanted to make sure that’s why _you_ wanted to go back, and it wasn’t just you putting yourself in harm’s way ‘cause you felt like you _ought_ to!”

“It…” Well… he _did_ feel like he _ought_ to go back and fix this, who _wouldn’t_ feel like they needed to sort out such a major problem in a place they loved…? “It’s not _just_ that, at all! I thought that would have been obvious!”

“Yeah, well… I don’t think I’m seeing what is and isn’t obvious too well right now.” Mondo admitted, “I needed to make sure.”

“Ah… alright. As long as it’s settled, now!” Kiyotaka sighed. A shouting match wasn’t the best way to start the day, but at least it had cleared things up. Not to mention, Mondo _had_ given him an idea… “Though I think it might be a good idea to try and call Kyoko, like you suggested, before we contact the school. She might be able to give us an idea of how… _truthful_ we should be when telling the school that we want to come back…”

“Or maybe, if we even _should_ tell ‘em!” Oh no… he didn’t mean to suggest there was a chance of them _not_ going back…! “Togami’s probably got a helicopter, right? If _he_ could sneak us into the school…”

“Oh! I see what you mean!” He hadn’t been expecting to need to be _that_ wary of the school officials… “We’ll see what Kyoko thinks!”

“Yeah!” Mondo nodded and patted him on the back, “But first, can we get some breakfast…?”

“Ah…” Now Mondo mentioned it, he was quite hungry himself! “Right, of course! We’ll go eat, _then_ sort out getting back to school!”

* * *

 _‘Helicopter back’s gonna show up Friday morning.’_ Takemichi’s heart sank a little when he started reading Mondo’s text. He shoulda known it wouldn’t take long for their school to sort everything out, but he’d still kinda been hoping it’d be more than a _day_ before the pair of them left… Hell, with all this talk about the headmaster maybe being part of the problem, he’d kinda hoped the school would ignore their attempts to get in contact and just leave ‘em out here…

 _Hah!_ Like that woulda worked! They’d have just rode back to the school! And even if they didn’t, the gang would eventually have got sick of camping. Just ‘cause it had been fun having Mondo back and all the gang hanging out in one place for a couple of weeks, didn’t mean he could expect all of them to stay that way forever… He couldn’t expect _anything_ to stay the way it was forever… That’s why he was gonna start working on being more honest and open about stuff with them!

…Just as soon as he thought of something he could be honest and open _about_ that they didn’t already know about and that wouldn’t get his ass kicked by them all…

“Uhh… bad news?” Kino suddenly spoke up, for the first time this whole day. He’d probably noticed Takemichi wasn’t in the mood to talk much today, unlike half the chicks at school, who’d spent the morning trying to cheer him up until he snapped at them all to leave him alone for once. He’d not even said anything when they both left school early and drove out here, like they’d done the last two weeks…

“Eh… Just the boss letting me know he’s leaving Friday morning.”

“Uhh… right.” Kino went quiet for a bit. “So… I’m guessing he told you he was planning to leave on Monday?”

“Huh?” _Monday?_ That was when… _urghh…_ Kino must’ve figured this was why he’d been upset after finding out about Daiya… “No… that was something else. I figured they were gonna leave yesterday.”

“So, there’s something else bothering you?”

“It…” He stopped himself just as he was gonna say ‘it’s nothing, really.’ ‘cause it wasn’t _nothing,_ but… “It’s ain’t something I can talk about.”

“Oh… damn.” Kino muttered, and when Takemichi turned to look at him, he was holding a book halfway out of his bag. “Uhh… if it’d just been about the boss, I thought maybe I had something that’d cheer you up…”

The hell? What did he have that he thought Takemichi would want? “Well, what is it?”

“I got that book you wanted!” Takemichi’s blood ran cold as he recognised the cover of the book Kino was excitedly shoving in his face, if only ‘cause of how stupidly long the title was! That’s why it hadn’t been there on Sunday! 

_Shit!_ So he _had_ seen what he was looking at and _had_ figured out that he'd been thinking of getting it for himself! But did he know what this book was even about!? He couldn’t do! He wouldn’t be so happy about it if he _did!_ He musta just picked it up without reading any of it, so as long as he played this cool, it wouldn’t be a problem… “Uhh… well, thanks! I’ll read it at the weekend and give it back…”

“Ah… _no!”_ Kino pulled the book back away from him just as he was about to grab it, “I mean… _I_ got it out, so I figured you could read it to me!”

 _Fucking dammit!_ What was he supposed to do now!? He couldn’t just explain that he’d been looking at a fucking gay romance book! But if he started reading it to Kino, it’d be obvious that’s what it was! Unless he tried to pretend that he’d not known what it was really about… with the title he _could_ say that he’d thought it was an adventure book, or something… In fact, that’d be a really easy lie to tell…

‘Cept he’d decided he was gonna quit hiding shit from everyone, hadn’t he? Was he really gonna give that up and go back to how he usually acted less than a _day_ later…?

“Uhh… Michi…?”

“Kino, what do you think that book's _about?”_

“Uhh… two guys finding the secret of the universe…?” Kino answered, looking at the title, “So like… on an adventure and stuff?”

“Okay.” Dammit… it’d be _so_ fucking easy! “But… that _ain’t_ what it’s about… It’s… about two guys falling in love with each other… or something.”

 _Fuck,_ why had he said that!? He had no idea how Kino was gonna react! But maybe it wasn’t a total disaster… even _now_ he could lie and say this is why he’d put it back on the shelf…!

 _“Ooh!_ That makes more sense…” Why the hell was he acting like that shoulda been obvious!? “But, I’d still be down to read it if…”

 _“Whaddaya MEAN it makes SENSE!?”_ Takemichi snapped as Kino started acting like… like it _wasn’t important!_ “I just told you I’ve been looking at a gay romance book! How the fuck does that make _any_ sense!?”

“Uhh… Well… You’ve got that whole _fanclub_ of girls you don’t want anything to do with!” Kino almost laughed at him, “We all figured either you’re gay or you’re the pickiest asshole in the _world!”_

“You _all…?_ You _all_ figured I was gay!? _”_ That couldn’t be right! “But… None of you ever said anything!”

“Well… You always kept it to yourself, so it’s not like it caused a problem, or anything.” Kino shrugged, “Specially as the Boss didn’t care about you crushing on him, y’know?”

 _They even knew he liked Mondo!?_ He’d been keeping this quiet the whole time and they all fucking knew _anyway!?_ What the hell _else_ had they figured out…!? “Hang on… is that why you asked if I had something against Ishimaru last week!?”

“Uhh… well, yeah…” Kino admitted, “I mean… You and him both being into the same guy, and all…”

 _“Urrghh!”_ So the whole gang even knew about _them_ being a…!

“Though I kinda don’t get it.” Kino muttered, “Why would you two fight over a guy who won’t like _either_ of you back? Couldn’t you just try dating each other, or something?”

… _What?_ But Mondo _did_ like…

 _Okay._ So the gang hadn’t figured _everything_ out. They still thought Mondo was on his fifteen-plus losing streak with _girls_ … Well, _that_ was Mondo’s secret to let out, so he’d just focus on that fucking stupid suggestion, for now…

“Just ‘cause Ishimaru’s _maybe_ the first gay guy I’ve met doesn’t mean I wanna fuck him!” Takemichi laughed, “I mean, would _you_ wanna go out with him!?”

“I dunno…” Kino looked away, mumbling a bit. “He could read me books, I could help him learn to ride better… It might work out!”

Was Kino serious!? All he wanted was someone to read to him…?

 _Wait…_ Hadn’t he just been asking _Takemichi_ to read to him…? “So... Is _this_ your idea of a date…?”

“Uhh!?” Kino took a moment to notice Takemichi was pointing at the book, “Uhh… Th-that’s not what I was thinking! I just…”

“Just _what?”_ Takemichi asked, as he trailed off, red in the face.

“I was just thinking it’s been cool hanging out with you these last coupla weeks.” Kino murmured, “But once the boss goes back, you’re not gonna need to pretend you ain’t skipping class anymore, and we ain’t gonna have Ishimaru reading to us either...”

“So you figured you just have me combine the two?”

“Maybe? That way I’d get to find out what kinda books you like, too.” Kino admitted. “But if you don’t wanna, it’s cool. I just thought maybe it could be something we do together...”

Why would he care what books _he_ liked? That still kinda sounded like it might be his idea of a date!

But even if he _was_ thinking of it like that, he clearly didn’t wanna admit it, and it wasn’t like Takemichi had any idea if he’d wanna go on a date right now or not anyway…

“Well… I’m probably gonna want something to take my mind off things once Mondo’s left…” Kino looked at him hopefully, “So, if you wanna hang out during lunch or after school on Friday…”

“Sure! Friday lunch sounds great!” Kino agreed, “Hell, I’ll even skip class if you wanna!”

“Eh… I don't think that’s a good idea, they’re already asking if I’ve got a note for yesterday…” And he’d been thinking he might skip tomorrow too… “But Friday lunch should be good!”

“Got it!” Kino nodded and put the book away, “Anyway, you wanna head back to camp? It’s about time…”

“Yeah… let’s go.” Takemichi agreed. If he only had until Friday morning to spend time with Mondo, he wanted to make the most of it!

* * *

(Thursday October 11th 2012)

Damn… if only every day could be as good as today had been!

Hasi and bunch of the others had decided to surprise everyone with pancakes for breakfast, Taka had spent the morning riding with some of the guys while he Michi hung out together. Then after lunch _he’d_ taken the chance to race Michi, and finally managed to quit worrying about everything long enough to just barely beat the guy. Then after everyone got back from school, Taka finished reading the last book he’d started and then they all ordered in pizzas for dinner…

“...I’ve given everyone back their library books, everything we don’t need for tomorrow is packed back up, I made sure none of our clothes are left in the laundry piles…” Taka was also thinking about everything he’d done today, though it sounded like he was just checking he’d not forgot to do any of it… “There shouldn’t be _any_ reason I can’t enjoy myself tonight!”

“Oh? What’re you planning to do to enjoy yourself, then?” Mondo asked, getting a confused look in response… “Go for a hike in the woods? Read a book? Brush your teeth _extra_ hard…?”

“You _know_ what I’m planning to do!” Taka tutted and smacked him on the shoulder. “I’m going to spend time partying with all of you!”

Of course he’d known that… Taka had said he’d try and have fun with everyone at some point, but never really ended up doing, so of course that’d be what he was planning to do when everyone had one last night together!

But, it was fun to wind him up, so… “Eh? Partying? What makes you think there’s gonna be a party?” Mondo put on his best surprised look, “I think everyone’s planning to get an early night for school…”

“What!?” Taka immediately fell for it, looking horrified. “But… It’s our… _your_ last night here! I thought they’d want to celebrate!”

“You thought they’d wanna celebrate me _leaving!?”_ Mondo pretended to be insulted.

“Well… no, not _celebrate!_ Just have a goodbye party to send us off! You know what I mean, right!?” Taka backpedalled, “Is that… _not_ happening…?”

 _“Pfftt…Bwahahaha!”_ Dammit, he couldn’t keep his face straight anymore! “Hahaha… Of course that’s what’s happening! I’m just fucking with ya!”

“Wha!? Mondo…! Honestly…” Taka tutted again, as Mondo kept laughing at him. “You had me worried for a moment! I thought I’d missed my last chance to spend time with everyone!”

“Hahaha…” Mondo still couldn’t help but laugh at him, “Nah, you’re still good. I’m surprised you didn’t see guys getting the music ready over there…”

 _“Aah!”_ Taka looked over at where Mondo was pointing, and then back at him with an annoyed pout, which only made Mondo burst out loud with laughter again. “Hrmmph!”

Man… Taka really had been worried about there _not_ being a party, hadn’t he? Then again, he’d been saying ‘I’ll spend time with everyone tomorrow night’ quite a lot these last few weeks. Even last night, he’d let Mitsukuni convince him not to worry about getting an early night’s sleep, ‘cause they’d probably all wanna have a big bash _today!_ He probably felt bad for putting it off so much and wanted to try and make sure he did do it tonight, before he had to leave for at least two months…

_…And maybe forever._

Mondo felt a little sick as he thought about that. It really _shouldn’t_ be _that_ dangerous. Kyoko certainly hadn’t thought it would be, even after Taka had explained that he’d remembered mentioning something that he now thought the headmaster wanted to hide. All she’d done was ask them to pretend that Taka wanted to go back because Mondo hadn’t had any panic attacks in over two weeks, and that Mondo hadn’t been able to convince him not to…

But even with that, it felt like something was gonna go down once they go back to the school... Like it might be more than just the wait until Christmas before he got to see everyone again… Like this night might be his last night to do anything he’d left undone…

…And he’d promised Michi he’d tell the gang about how Daiya _really_ died. If he didn’t do that _now…_ would he _get_ to…?

“…Mondo, what’s wrong?” Taka had noticed he’d started worrying. Of course he’d noticed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! I was just thinking…” He almost didn’t wanna say it. It wasn’t like he could tell everyone what _really_ happened that night, and then expect ‘em all to spend the night raving with him! And even _Taka_ was looking forward to this! _But_ … “I promised Michi I’d tell the gang how Daiya died…”

“Ah… I did wonder if… if you’d think of that. And if I should have stayed up late yesterday after all…” Taka sighed as he put his hand over Mondo’s. Guess he’d figured out what Mondo was thinking of doing… “B-but! I’m sure I’ll get another chance to spend time with everyone! So… you do whatever you need to!”

“Thanks, Taka.” Mondo ruffled his hair. Hopefully he was right, and they _would_ get a chance to see all the guys again, and hang out and let loose ‘till late in the night… Even if he was pretty sure Taka didn’t quite believe they would, either.

Assuming the guys would even _wanna_ hang out with him again, after this…

“Hey, everyone… listen up!” The group mostly went quiet as he stood up, aside from a few cheers and hollers. “Uhh… I’ve got something I need to tell you all… but it ain’t good, it’s just… it’s something you need to know… And that I probably shoulda told you all a long time ago…”

Fuck… this was the first time he’d done this on purpose and sober… He could see the looks of concern on everyone’s faces, knew they were all starting to worry that he was gonna drop something fucking terrible on them, which he _was!_ And he could see how freaked out Michi was, as the guy looked around the gang already on edge and probably trying to work out who outta all of them was most likely to kick off and lunge at him or something once he got done with this… ‘Cause this time didn’t have a fucking ‘personal favour’ from anyone he could call on to get them _not_ to all just fucking walk out, or gang up on to beat the crap outta him for lying to them for so long, and maybe this was a fucking _stupid_ idea but he still had to do it even if right _now_ he didn’t think he could open his mouth without puking and…

…And someone… _Taka_ was rubbing his ankle… and gave it a quick squeeze… and then smiled up at him and nodded when Mondo looked down at him…

Well… If nothing else, at least he’d still have Taka…

“…It’s about how Daiya died.” Mondo started, after taking a deep breath. “You all know I challenged him to a race, but… I dunno if you guys know why I did that. Y’see… I knew I was supposed to be taking over the gang, and that Daiya was relying on me to keep it going strong, but… I didn’t know if I’d be able to. If I’d be _strong_ enough to lead it as well as _he_ did… or at all!”

“But you’ve done a great job…!” A few of the gang cut in with compliments…

“GUYS!”, _“SSHHH!”_ …Only to quickly fall quiet when both Michi _and_ Taka glared at them all to stop…

“Thanks… but back then, I didn’t know that.” Mondo tried to get back to what he’d been about to say. “I’d heard some people talking about how the gang would crumble without Daiya, and… I was _scared!_ I was scared that they were right. That I’d never be as good as him. Especially if there was a bunch of people who wouldn’t wanna follow me _because_ they knew I wasn’t as good as him…”

 _“THOUGHT you weren’t as good as…!”_ He struggled not smile as he just barely heard Taka hissing under his breath. But he needed to carry on with this…

“So… that’s why I wanted… why I felt like I _needed_ to prove that I was better than Daiya… ‘Cause I was scared of always being second-rate compared to him.” A lot of the gang were looking confused, like they didn’t get what the point of this all was. He’d probably best get to it, then… “And so, ‘cause I was so scared of losing… I did some stupid shit to get ahead in the race. I know I said Daiya fucked up ‘cause he was desperate to win, but in reality… it was _me!_ I was the one who was being a fucking idiot! I was driving faster than I could really handle, overtaking cars without really checking if I had the time to... and suddenly found myself in the wrong lane, staring down an eighteen-wheeler, with no way of getting out of the way in time before it hit me…”

He didn’t know what the gang was thinking right now… he was looking at them, but it was like looking through a fog as he remembered what happened that night… All he could do was keep talking through it…

“But then… Suddenly I felt a hit from the side, and as I’m flying across the road, I turn back and I see it was _Daiya_ who’d bashed into me, and he’s fucking _smiling_ as he sees he got me outta the way, even as…” It felt like his throat wanted to close itself, rather than say it… But he needed to say it! He needed to tell the gang the truth, the _whole_ truth! “E-even as the truck plowed into him.”

There was silence from the gang, as Mondo caught his breath… Probably the calm before the storm. If he wanted to try and explain why he’d been lying to them all the last couple of years, he’d better do it _now…_

“I know… I shoulda told you all the truth, back then when it happened. And I know there’s no good excuse for lying to you all, _but_ …” Shit, how to say this? He was surprised they were still letting him talk… “But when I ran over to Daiya, after he got hit, he… told me, no matter what, I had to keep the gang together… ‘cause it was the team we’d put together… that it was a promise between men. But… I was _scared…_ I didn’t think I _could…_ not if you guys knew what’d _really_ happened… that Daiya died saving _me,_ and that it was all _my fault!_ So… that’s why I lied to you all. ‘Cause I thought it was the only way I could keep that promise to him…”

He’d finished… but he still couldn’t see what the gang was thinking. At some point he’d started staring at the ground in the centre of the circle they were sat in, and he couldn’t bring himself to move his head to look at any of them in the eye… And none of them were saying anything either…

“So… that’s it.” Mondo finished. “That’s all I had to say.”

“That…” _Finally,_ someone spoke up, “That’s a hell of a story, boss!”

 _Story!?_ Oh fucking hell, don’t tell him they were…!

“Uhh, _yeah!_ But that can’t be what really happened!” _Urrgghh!_ They _were!_ They were reacting the way Michi reckoned he mighta done! “There’s no _way_ you woulda fucked up like that! You’re a _great_ boss!”, “Y-yeah… I know you want us to respect your bro, and we _do,_ but you don’t gotta make up…”

 _“You think he MADE THAT **UP!?”** _The storm of cheerful denial died out as Taka’s voice thundered over them all. “Were you not LISTENING!? Can you not SEE HIM!? Do you really think this is ACT…!? He just told you all something _devastating_ and you all think he did it as some kind of… _joke_ or something!?”

“N-no! Not like a _joke!_ There’s no way Mondo would joke about this! We know that!” Umeki rushed to calm Taka down… “We just mean… maybe he doesn’t _think_ he’s lying, but there’s still no way that coulda happened! He’s just lost his memory in the crash and dreamt about Daiya dying in a cool way!”

“Y-yeah! That’s gotta be it!” Mitsukuni agreed with him. “He’s too cool of a guy to have been scared of losing a race, right!?”

“Yeah!”, “Exactly!”, “Yeah… I don’t remember anyone saying Mondo wasn’t gonna be a good leader, do you!? Sure didn’t seem scared to me!”

Goddammit… Doing this this early had been a mistake, hadn’t it? They weren’t ready to believe Mondo was anything other than the ‘Ultimate Biker Gang Leader’, and could even have _possibly_ fucked up something ‘cause he was scared of losing…!

“But just because you don’t remember it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!” And an even _bigger_ mistake had been doing this with Taka here, ‘cause he was refusing to let everyone sit in their happy fantasy. “And just because you didn’t notice how Mondo was feeling at the time didn’t mean he didn’t _have_ those feelings!”

“Well… sure! He was probably worried about taking over the gang and stuff!” Hasimoto shrugged at him, “But… we were _there!_ We spoke to him all the time! We’d have noticed if he was getting scared enough to drive into a _truck!_ We know what we’re talking about! There’s no way that happened!”

 _“HHRRNNGG…!”_ Mondo knew what was coming. Taka was gonna start yelling at them that they were all deluding themselves and ignoring their problems and that it would only make everything worse because they’d never be able to fix anything unless they admitted it was broken in the first place, and by ignoring it they were just going to let everything get worse and worse until it was too much of a mess to fix at all, and then the gang were gonna dig their heels in and tell him we was a dumbass who didn’t know what he was talking about ‘cause he wasn’t part of the gang and wasn’t ‘strong’ enough to know that ‘real’ men didn’t get scared of what other people thought of them, so then _he_ was gonna try and challenge ‘em to a fight to show he was just as strong as any of them and they’d go for it and so _Taka_ was gonna be the guy they took their anger out on, instead of Mondo like they _should_ do, and… _“Haaah…_ I suppose you’re right. I wasn’t there, so I can’t really comment on what happened at the time, can I?”

Hang on… _WHAT!?_ Taka just… _backed down!?_ He was just… letting them lie to themselves about it!?

 _“You_ weren’t, but _I_ was!” But now, _Michi_ was the one going against the rest of the gang, instead! “And, guys… I know you don’t wanna believe it! _I_ didn’t wanna believe it either! But… it’s _true!_ Mondo’s not fucking perfect! Even _if_ Hope’s Peak gave call him an ‘Ultimate’! He still gets scared and fucks shit up! And… he _was_ scared back then. He mighta been trying to hide it, and most of _us_ are probably trying to forget it ‘cause it was _us_ who were scaring him, but looking back on it… I remember him being scared. And I know a lot of _you_ guys remember it too!”

“So… what’re you saying?” Isobe asked him.

“I’m saying… We all _know_ this isn’t just a story… or just some dream Mondo had, ‘cause he doesn’t wanna believe his brother died acting like a dumbass.” Michi sighed, “It’s the truth. And we’re gonna have to admit that…”

“So… Daiya _didn’t_ fuck up that night?” Isobe asked, looking dumbstruck. _“You_ did!?”

“Yeah.” Mondo admitted.

“And you lied to us… You told us all _Daiya_ fucked up!” He started yelling… “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve said that!? How many times I’ve called your bro a fucking idiot ‘cause I thought he died in a fucking stupid race that never fucking mattered! And now you’re telling us _you_ were the fucking idiot, not _him!?_ That he died _saving_ you!? That’s it’s _your fault_ he died!?”

“Ye…”

 _“IT IS **NOT** HIS FAULT!” _Oh shit! Taka was still here! _“It was an ACCIDENT!”_

“An accident _he_ caused by being a fucking dumbass!” Isobe turned to scream at him, “And then _lied_ to us all about it!”

“But that was because he…” Dammit… they were supposed to be arguing with _him_ about this! Not his boyfriend!

“Taka, _stop!”_ Mondo pulled him backwards. “I don’t need you to stand up for me.”

“But… you were just going to agree with him!” Taka snapped.

“Taka… He’s _angry,_ and he’s got a good reason to be angry!” Mondo tried to reason with him, “I can’t just deny that! I fucked up and now I’ve gotta deal with the consequences! And right now, that means getting a bunch of shit yelled at me!”

“B-but… You don’t _deserve_ that!” Taka wailed, “And I can’t just stand here and listen to you get shouted at without saying anything!”

“I know you can’t…” Taka looked relieved as Mondo sighed, which made it a lot harder for him to say the next thing… “So… go take that hike in the woods.”

 _“What?”_ A few tears came out as Taka blinked in surprised.

“Go take a hike. Or have an hour-long shower. Or practise driving my bike for a while. Or go to bed with your earplugs in.” Mondo suggested, “Just… do _something_ that means you won’t be able to see or hear what’s going on for a while, okay?”

“N-no! That’s not okay!” Taka snapped, his tears falling fast now. “I’m not just going to leave you by yourself while everyone here…”

“He ain’t gonna be by himself!” Michi cut him off. “This is a gang thing… And _I’m_ the gang’s bodyguard! That means it’s _my_ job to back Mondo up right now, not yours!”

Taka’s eyes darted between him and Michi, probably trying to figure out if he ought to trust them or his own instincts more…

“If you’re the _gang’s_ bodyguard, shouldn’t you be on _our_ side!?” Isobe spoke up. “He shouldn’t even be leading us anyway…”

“I’ll guard who I goddamn _like!_ Just ‘cause I said he can get scared and fucks up doesn’t mean I think any of _you_ dumbasses would be any better! _”_ Michi wheeled around and snapped at him, “And besides, I dunno how many times you’ve called Daiya an idiot, but I _do_ remember Mondo beating the crap outta ya for it _six_ times, so that’s on _you,_ you fucking _prick!”_

“Ngh… but… we still can’t trust him!” Isobe shouted, “If he lied about this, who knows what else there is he’s not telling us!”

“But there _isn’t_ anything else he hasn’t…” Taka instinctively started defending him again.

 _“Taka!”_ Mondo cut him off again, “I appreciate you wanting to help… I really do! But… he’s _right!_ I can’t expect them to trust me, now! So, _please…_ Just let me and Michi handle this, alright? ‘Cause you’re just defending me without even thinking about it, and that ain’t right, right now!”

“I…” Taka took one last look at Mondo, then the crowd of angry guys, and then Michi… “Just promise me you won’t let him get hurt!”

“Sure… It’s a promise between men.” Michi shrugged.

“Alright then…” Taka turned headed back to the tent, shoulders shuddering as he probably started full-on crying…

“…Like Mondo said, Isobe’s got a point about us not being able to trust him…” Michi’s voice cut across the silence, and Mondo turned back to face the music. “So… How’re we gonna deal with this…?”

* * *

(Friday October 12th 2012)

“Long story short, between half of ‘em not wanting me to quit being leader, and the other half thinking it’d look bad if they got rid of the ‘Ultimate Gang Leader’ as leader, they decided they’d just have someone stand in for me for a while, ‘till they can get a better idea of whether I’m hiding anything else from ‘em and stuff.” Mondo explained what ended up happening last night, after Kiyotaka had finished crying, given up on the argument finishing quickly, put his earplugs in and _somehow_ fallen asleep. “So they took a vote on it and decided that Michi’d be the one who’d stand in for me…”

“But… wasn’t he already doing that!?” Kiyotaka checked he understood the situation while he also checked around the tent to make sure he’d not left anything unpacked. “What’s the difference!?”

“I ain’t got a copy of some of the keys I used to have anymore. And they probably won’t save me my favourite cereals.” Mondo answered as he started sorting his hair out, so nonchalantly that Kiyotaka wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. “Other than that, it’s gonna be business as usual…”

“Even after all that shouting and yelling!?” The way they’d all been going on, he’d been convinced he’d wake up to find Mondo had been kicked out of the gang completely, not just… put on a probationary period!

“Yeah… They weren’t even that pissed off with me, really.” Kiyotaka wondered if Mondo was downplaying how bad it had actually been, to make him feel better about having agreed to let him deal with it alone. “It was just… they’ve all been pretending Daiya’s death didn’t bother ‘em, but it did. And for the first time in years, they finally had a way to let that out without, like… _crying_ or something. So they all just fucking yelled at me about it while they could.”

“So… you really think they’re going to be okay?” It almost seemed too easy, to just think they’d get over this with some shouting…

“I dunno. I think some of ‘em are still pretending this hasn’t upset them as much as it really has. Like they’re thinking that it won’t matter ‘cause the gang’s still awesome. Assuming they even really believe me in the first place…” Mondo groaned, “I’m worried about what _those_ guys’ll do once they stop deluding themselves…”

“Ah… yes. I suppose that’s a bit of a time-bomb situation waiting to go off…” Especially worrying as they were going to be leaving it in Yukimaru’s hands… “I suppose it’s a good thing Yukimaru was able to convince at least _some_ of them that you were telling the truth!”

“Hah! Yeah, seeing as _someone_ backed down from an argument!” Mondo scoffed at him, “What made you do that?”

“You mean when I agreed I couldn’t really talk about what your gang was like two years ago?” Kiyotaka checked, even though he couldn’t think of anything else he’d done that made sense. “Well... honestly, I thought they weren’t _ready_ to believe it. And that trying to argue about it with them, when they’d already decided I didn’t know what I was talking about, would just aggravate them and make them even more defensive about it!”

“Heh… sounds like something Michi would say! But with less swearing.” Mondo chuckled, “You sure you and him didn’t switch bodies for a few minutes last night!?”

“I’m _certain_ that didn’t happen!” He knew Mondo was just joking, but… “Is it really that hard to believe I might have realised there’s a few situations where his philosophy of letting things be might be the right way to handle things!?”

“Right at the same time as _he_ starts acting like you? _Yeah,_ kinda!” Mondo joked, “’Specially after _you_ were actually _looking forward_ to a _party!”_

“Ah…” Kiyotaka couldn’t even think of a joke response to that reminder. Mondo had done the right the right thing, telling everyone the truth last night. But even though he knew that…

“Oh… shit, you’re really upset that didn’t happen!” Mondo stopped laughing as he realised. “Fuck… I’m sorry, I…”

“No! Don’t apologise! I wasn’t _that_ excited about it!” Kiyotaka tried to hide his stupid self-pity. “I’d just been hoping to speak to a few people one last time before we left, that was all! But it’s not really important…”

At least, it probably wasn’t important to the people he’d had in mind. He was still just a friend of Mondo’s who’d spent little over a fortnight tagging along with them all. Just because he’d had more than a few conversations with some of them, and they’d admitted some things they hadn’t told other people in the gang, it didn’t mean they were going to be especially sad to see him leave. Even if _he_ was a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be seeing them again for some time… If at all…

“I know… but it still woulda been nice if you coulda had some fun before we go back…” Mondo sighed, “…Or at least actually said goodbye to ‘em. But they probably ain’t gonna be getting up this fucking early to see us off!”

Kiyotaka had to agree with him… It had been hard enough getting _Mondo_ to wake up early enough for them to get dressed and hopefully organise something to eat for breakfast before the helicopter was due to arrive! He could hardly imagine any of the gang deciding to get up _voluntarily!_

“And speaking of us _leaving…”_ Kiyotaka checked his watch, as Mondo finished putting his pompadour in place and haphazardly threw all his hair-care products in his suitcase, “If we’re going to want to cook anything for breakfast, we’d better start now…”

“Yeah… I think I’m good!” Mondo roughly forced his suitcase closed and looked around the empty tent with a sigh. “Alright, let’s go…”

Kiyotaka nodded and opened up the entrance to the tent, bracing himself against the cold air as he ducked down to get out…

“Hey! Ishimaru!” …And then almost hit his head on the crossbar out of surprise when he saw Mitsukuni pacing around in front of him!

“Ah! Mitsukuni! Did something happen!?” Kiyotaka was _sure_ he didn’t usually get up this early…

“Nah, everything’s cool, I just wanted to show you _this!”_ The boy held his phone up excitedly, giving Kiyotaka a moment to look at the screen.

“Pokemon trading card game online…?” Kiyotaka read the logo out loud.

“Yeah! It’s like the pokémon game, but all on computers, so you can play with people online!” Mitsukuni explained, rapidly. “And you don’t even have _pay!”_

“Really?” That seemed oddly generous! He’d have to make sure there wasn’t some kind of catch…

“Yeah! So, uhh… I thought you’d probably wanna know about it, seeing as you’re into these card games and stuff…” Mitsukuni looked past Kiyotaka briefly as Mondo came up behind him and leant over his shoulder to see what was going on. “And if you want, I can give you my email so we can add each other as friends and play some games together and stuff…”

“Oh!” They could do that!? So was this game his way of asking Kiyotkaa to keep in touch…? “Yes that would be a great idea! Let me get my notepad…”

“Hey… maybe get it out while we’re walking over…” Mondo suggested, gently pushing Kiyotaka in the back. “I think everyone’s waiting to talk to ya…”

“Hmm…?” Kiyotaka looked past Mitsukuni for the first time, only to see there was a small group of people already huddled around the cooking spot. “Ah! What are they all doing up so early!?”

“Heh… looks like you weren’t the only one who’d been hoping to have one last chat!” …Looking out at the group, Umeki, Kino and Yukimaru were sitting around in a circle, while Hasimoto busied himself at the fires… Mondo was right, it really _was_ all the people he’d wanted to talk to! “Now c’mon! Or you ain’t gonna have time to say goodbye to ‘em all!”

“R-right!” Kiyotaka shook himself into action and started heading over to them all, slowing just a little to write down Mitsukuni’s email address… “Err… Good morning, everyone! Let me just make some breakfast and I’ll…”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it!” He didn’t get the chance, as Hasimoto was suddenly shoving two plates of food at him, “We had some stuff left over, so I heated it up for you guys… Which do you want?”

“Oh, err, thank you!” Kiyotaka quickly looked between the choices… either cheesy bacon potatoes or some pancakes… “I’ll take the potatoes!”

“Sure thing!” Hasimoto handed them their food, then gave Kiyotaka a plastic fork and Mondo some sugar. “’Fraid we’re outta chocolate sauce, though…”

“I’m lucky ya bothered to get up and make us anything!” Mondo pointed out.

“Yeah, well…” Hasimoto looked around the rest of the group warily, before reaching into his coat for a bundle of paper, which he held out to Kiyotaka. “I spent a bunch of time writing down _this_ shit, I wasn’t gonna _not_ give it to you!”

“Ah!” Kiyotaka put his plate down and took the papers, quickly scanning down the first page to see what was written on there… “’How to cook… fried rice with egg…?’”

“You said you wanted to learn how to cook some stuff, so I wrote down what I do for some things.”

…There must have been about two dozen different recipes in here! And while they might not be the most detailed instructions, or complicated recipes, the face that he’d even bothered to write them at all…! “This is wonderful! Thank you!”

“It’s not that big of a deal…” Hasimoto muttered, “’Sides, it’s not like I’m the only one who got you something…”

“Ah… You’re not…?” Kiyotaka looked around the group to try and work out what he was talking about, eventually noticing that Umeki was holding something wrapped in brown paper, and glaring at Hasimoto. “Err… is that also…?”

“You said it’s a bitch to find decent scarves.” Umeki threw the package at him so fast, he barely managed to catch it before it landed in his breakfast. “So… … _made_ one!”

 _What!?_ He, although he’d barely wanted to admit it, had made Kiyotaka a scarf… by _hand!?_ “Ah… Thank you!” Kiyotaka quickly unfolded the paper and picked out the scarf, a chunky red knitted scarf with a white raised plait pattern running through it… “That fantastic! And it even matches by armband!” Probably why Umeki had chosen to make it like that…

“Oh… and ‘cause you asked about it, that plait pattern stuff is called ‘cabling’.” Umeki suddenly added, “You gotta, like… move the stitches onto a spare needle and then put ‘em back on once you’ve done some of the other ones…”

“Ah… I see!” That would explain why it looked like they were crossing over the other parts… “That sounds quite tricky to do, though! Thank you for going to the extra trouble!”

“Y…yeah…” Umeki seemed to tense up, and everyone went quiet for some reason…

Wait… he’d just said _Umeki_ made the scarf, but he’d probably still wanted everyone else to think he hadn’t…

“Errm, I mean! Thank you for getting your _girlfriend_ to go to the extra…”

“Oh fuck off! Everyone knows I made it myself, anyway! Don’t you!?” Umeki snapped, glaring round at them all! “Just like everyone knows you ain’t been _forcing_ Kino to go to the library every day!”

“It’s not been _every_ day…” Kino muttered.

“But it _has_ been a few more days than I would have needed by myself, hasn’t it?” Kiyotaka pointed out, making the other boy huff in embarrassment. “I’m just glad you found some things there that you enjoyed!”

“In fact… that’s something I wanted to say to _all_ of you! I’m glad you all shared your interests with me!” Kiyotaka remembered, and while he’d been intending to say this to them all indiviually, he was quickly running out of time. It was a good thing he’d prepared some pieces of paper ahead of time, yesterday! “It’s good that you have things you enjoy, and you shouldn’t feel the need to be embarrassed about them! So I hope you all can _keep_ enjoying them, and sharing them with other people, even once I’ve gone! And maybe also keep in contact with me as well? I can give you all my email address, if you’d like…?”

The four of them all looked at each other for a brief moment, before silently taking a slip of paper each and tucking it away…

“Anyway, don’t you gotta hurry up, so you can pack up that tent before that helicopter comes?” Yukimaru pointed out, as Kiyotaka had barely touched his food, whereas Mondo was just about shoving the last bit of his pancakes into his mouth.

“Oh, right!” Kiyotaka quickly started to eat as quickly as possible.

“Hey… calm down! You ain’t gotta rush!” Mondo quickly grabbed his hand and stopped him, “You put the tent up, _I’ll_ take it down!”

“Err… are you sure…?” It _would_ be nice not to have to rush this meal down…

“Yeah, I’m sure! I’ll be back in a few minutes…” Mondo patted him on the shoulder as he got up and headed over to the tent, leaving Kiyotaka to eat in a somewhat-awkward silence… Not an easy task given how nervous he was about what was going to happen when they got back to the school…

“…So… do you like… know how to follow knitting patterns?” …At least, until Mitsukuni suddenly turned and asked Umeki a question, “’Cause I saw this thing online that was like a Pikachu scarf…!”

…Hah! It seemed Kiyotaka needn’t have worried about giving them a pep talk! They really weren’t going to have trouble opening up to each other, now! It might be slow going, but they’d all be alright…!

That thought made eating the rest of his food a lot easier, and he’d managed to clean off his plate by the time Mondo had returned with the tent (or, at least, _most_ of the tent) forced back into its carry case…

“I guess it’s time for us to go, eh?” Mondo asked, resigned.

“Yes… I’m afraid so.” Kiyotaka checked his watch with a sigh. They needed to head over to pick up Mondo’s bike, then drive back up to where the helicopter was landing… “It’s… it’s been great to meet you all! And I hope we can keep in touch!”

“Yeah… and thanks for getting up this early to see us off!” Mondo added, “I’ll see you all around!”

Everyone but Yukimaru murmured their goodbyes and gave half-hearted waves as he and Mondo started to walk away, followed by the bodyguard.

“Hey… uhh… Michi?” Mondo started talking, once they’d made their way out of earshot of the others. “…I’m sorry I didn’t warn you ‘bout what I was gonna do last night. I just… It suddenly seemed like the right time to do it, y’know?”

“Yeah… I know…” Yukimaru nodded, curtly. “I’m glad you did it… It’s gonna be a bitch to deal with, but… It was probably the right time.”

“Thanks.” Mondo nodded, and they carried on the rest of the way in silence, until they got to the bikes and the pair of them started challenging each other to races, which lead to the three of them speeding over to the helicopter, which they could already see up in the sky above them…

“Guess that’s it, then…” Yukimaru sighed.

“Yeah… I… I’m gonna miss you, man.” Mondo croaked slightly as he said his goodbyes, “I know I don’t say it enough, but… you’re a better guy than I deserve to have helping me out!”

 _“Tch…_ Don’t say shit like that!” Yukimaru snapped back at him, “If you weren’t worth helping out, I’d have told you ta fuck off years ago!”

 _“Bwahahaha!”_ Mondo laughed, then pulled Yukimaru into a hug, “Still, I mean it… I’mma miss you.”

“Yeah… me to…” He only just about heard Yukimaru’s reply, muffled as it by Mondo’s body…

They stayed like that for a few seconds, then pulled apart again, leaving the three of them stood waiting. If _he_ was going to say goodbye to Yukimaru, now was probably the time for it…

“Errm… I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye on things!” Kiyotaka tried to start with an apology, as he put his hand out…

“No _shit!”_ Yukimaru laughed, “Remember that day we beat the crap outta each other!?”

 _“Yes!_ I remember that!” Kiyotaka answered, “But, regardless of how bad it went at first, I just wanted to say that I’m glad we met!”

 _“Haaa…”_ Yukimaru gave a resigned sighed, as he put his hand in Kiyotaka’s… “Yeah… I guess I ended up getting used to you after all…”

 _“See!”_ Mondo grinned triumphantly, “I told ya!”

“Yeah, yeah…” Yukimaru moaned sarcastically at him, before turning back to Kiyotaka. “And, hey… Thanks for taking care of Mondo and shit… And make sure you stay outta trouble, so you can keep on doing that.”

“Ah… thank you!” Kiyotaka nodded as he let go of the handshake. “And make sure you remember to look after yourself, as well as the gang! You’re Mondo’s best friend, after all!”

 _“Pfft!_ I can look after myself just fine!” Yukimaru shouted, partly out of annoyance, and partly because the approaching helicopter was getting loud enough to start drowning out their voices. “You just make sure you reply to all those emails you’re gonna get about books and hobbies and shit from everyone!”

 _“Ahahaha!_ Of course I will!” Kiyotaka shouted back, though he had no idea if he’d been heard or not…

…And that was the last thing he got to say before it was time for him and Mondo to load all their belongings back onto the helicopter and climb inside...

He wasn’t sure what had been worse, watching the Reserve course students glaring at him as he left Hope’s Peak, or watching all the tents and the trees he’d spent the last fortnight having fun in shrink away and disappear and he started to return…

“Hey… We’ll come back here.” Mondo noticed his sadness and put and arm around his shoulders once again. “Maybe not for Christmas, ‘cause it’ll be fucking freezing, but over Spring, or Summer… We’ll come back!”

 _…Would_ they, though? With everything going on back at the school, he couldn’t help but worry about what was going to happen…

But for now, it was just him and Mondo in the safety of the helicopter. So why waste the last few hours this school trip worrying about something he couldn’t control, when he and Mondo could try to think of nice plans to work towards in the future?

“Well… if we’re not coming back _here_ over Christmas, perhaps we’ll be able to visit my father!” Kiyotaka knew that was a naïve thing to say, but right now, he wanted to try and think of the best things that could happen, as they got back to school.

“…Yeah. Maybe we could.” And it seemed Mondo was in the same state of mind as him, “We oughta even get back in time for you to ring him, tonight!”

Ah! That was right! And Kiyotaka hadn’t spoken to him for three weeks! He was bound to want to speak after _that!_

See…? There were plenty of things to look forward to! And even if things took a turn for the difficult, he’d manage to work through them! Especially with Mondo by his side to help!

* * *

** Epilogue **

Takemichi wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he agreed to read this to Kino but… It sure as hell wasn’t _this._ The guy seemed more interested in his food than the book! And given how interested he _usually_ looked when being read to, he couldn’t even blame that on the slow start to the book…

Was he really not interested? Maybe he was just trying to act like he didn’t care, so Takemichi wouldn’t think he was thinking of this as a date? But he’d already made it clear he thought that anyway, so why bother acting that way _now_ …?

_*Brrrrriiiinnggg…*_

Well, there was the bell. That meant lunch hour was over, and he could go back to class and then read the rest of this by himself in peace…

“Huh… Lunch is over already? Damn…” Kino sighed, packing away the rest of the meat he hadn’t finished, “Well, I was thinking we could head over to that shed they keep the sports stuff in and keep reading there, so I nabbed the key earlier…”

“Huh? You mean you still wanna hear more?”

“Uhh, yeah! Sure I do!” Kino stammered, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“’Cause you didn’t _look_ all that interested to me.” Takemichi pointed out, “Not as much as you usually do, anyway.”

“Well, I was eating! I don’t usually listen and eat at the same time!” Kino argued, “’Sides, since when have you been watching how I look when people read!?”

 _Shit!_ That _did_ kinda sound like he’d been eyeing Kino up, but… “I only noticed since there’s nothing _better_ to look at in Literature class!”

“Oh, really? Does that you think I’m the best looking guy in class?” Kino grinned at him. _Goddammit!_ He shoulda seen that one coming! “Ahahaha! Aww, c’mon I’m just kidding! Let’s get going!”

“Alright, I’m coming!” If he was in _this_ good of a mood, he must have been enjoying the book, right? So maybe it’d be worth it to carry on… Especially as he _still_ hadn’t heard anything from Mondo about whether he got back to the school alright! So it wasn't like he’d be paying attention in class anyway, and no one had bitched at him about yesterday…

Even though this was Kino’s idea, he still let Takemichi take the lead as they avoided the hall monitor and headed out of a side exit towards the sports field, which was empty at the moment…

“We oughta have a couple of hours before anyone has a lesson out here…” Kino pointed out.

“Nice…” Seemed like he’d done a good job planning this… which was kinda unusual for him… “How’d you know that?”

“Uhh… whaddaya mean?” Kino looked confused, “I just checked the other classes’ schedules…”

“Even though I said I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to skip today?”

“Uhh… _did_ you…?” Kino asked, anxiously. “When was that again…?”

“When you were asking me on this ‘date’!” Takemichi reminded him. If Kino was gonna take the piss, then so was _he!_

 _“HUH!?”_ But… Kino just looked surprised to hear it was a date, like he actually thought Takemichi was being serious… for a moment, anyway. Then he burst out laughing… “Oh, _yeah!_ I forgot about that! Ahahaha…”

He _forgot_ that!? Was his memory that bad!? “Hah! I’m lucky you remembered we were meeting up, then!”

“Hey! I wouldn’t have forgot _that,_ man!” Kino moaned, “I just… I’ve been thinking about that stuff the boss laid on us…”

“Oh… _right…”_ How had he forgot _that!? He’d_ known about it all week, but for everyone _else_ it had happened _last night_ and they were still reeling from it coming outta nowhere... 

“Why’d you think he told us?” Kino asked, “He’d been hiding it all that time… Why suddenly stop? Was someone onto him?”

“No… He just knew he had to tell everyone ‘bout it _sometime.”_ Kino didn’t look convinced… “It wouldn’t have been right to have the gang built on a lie forever, and if he _hadn’t_ it probably woulda come back to bite him sometime…”

“I guess, but why do it right when we’re about to have party!?” Kino complained.

“I think he just suddenly realised it was then or… not for a long time.” Takemichi admitted, “He’s not sure when he’s gonna get another chance to speak to everyone all at once like that, what with the murders at Hope’s Peak…”

 _Wait… FUCK!_ He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone else about that!

“Uhhhh… Y-yeah! I mean, the whole student council!?” Hold on, how did he know that!? “And the school covering it up? That’s pretty shady, right!?”

Had he… had he been spying on him and Mondo? No… he was nowhere _near_ them that night! And he’d been the one to tell Takemichi what had happened in the part of the book he’d missed hearing! He couldn’t possibly have been listening in! And he was _sure_ no one else had, so… How did he know about it…?

“Uhh… _Michi…?”_ Kino tried to take a step closer to him, his heavy footsteps thudding on the ground… And now he thought about it, was it just him, or did the guy look a little bigger than normal? And the food he’d been eating was completely different from what he usually ate…

 _“Who are you?”_ Takemichi stepped backwards, to keep his distance. No answer though, the guy who looked like Kino just scowled at him… “What did you do to my _friend,_ asshole!?”

 _Whoa shit!_ The guy was suddenly lunging at Takemichi, and _fast!_ Way faster than a guy that big _should_ be able to move! If he hadn’t jumped outta the way quick enough, he probably woulda been grabbed by the guy…

Guess he wasn’t gonna be able to get this fucker to _talk!_ He’d just have to try _beating_ an answer outta him!

“Answer my _fucking question!”_ This time _he_ was the one charging forward, throwing several punches that the guy blocked… this was like fighting Ishimaru but with doughier arms, and no obvious weak point! It didn’t seem to matter _how_ many times he hit the guy or _where_ he landed his blows, they didn’t phase him at all! Even _kicking_ the guy right in the _gut_ didn’t phase him! All these attacks were doing was forcing the guy to go on the defensive and tiring Takemichi out _…_

…Which was probably what this asshole _wanted,_ right? He’d been trying to _grab_ Takemichi, which probably mean he was trying to take him somewhere… that’s probably why he’d been trying to lead him to the sports shed! He must have been planning to ambush him in there, where no one would be around to see it for a couple of hours! The guy was probably just waiting until he was too tired to dodge, so he could grab him and drag him there…

So, he should do the _opposite_ of that, right? He’d just need to distract the guy enough to give himself a head start! Maybe the _other_ thing that’d worked in that fight with Ishimaru would work here…!

 _“Hhhh…”_ He charged forward again, leaning him as if he was just going for more punches, but making sure he gathered enough spit in his mouth to be able to do what he was planning once he got close enough… _“Pah!”_

“Arrgh!” Takemichi turned around as soon as he saw the guy cry out and reach for his face, “My _goggles!”_

 _Goggles?_ The hell was he talking about? Well, whatever! It didn’t matter! He just had to get somewhere safe! Probably best to run back _into_ the school, that way he could go out the front entrance, get on his bike and get back to the gang!

 _“Yukimaru!_ What are you doing out of class agai…!?” Oh, screw this fucking hall monitor! Did it _look_ like he was just messing around right now!?

 _“Not now, nerd!”_ Takemichi was gonna just dodge past him, but the idiot decided to try and grab him, so he ended up shoving him into the lockers.

…Still, even with that delay, it didn’t seem like that guy had come after him. Had he given up on chasing him, or did he have something else in mind?

…Maybe he’d figured that he’d run straight for the bike, if he caught on to what was going on? Which meant he better be careful when he got out to the carpark… after all, what were the chances of _one_ guy who looked _exactly_ like Kino being the _only_ one behind… whatever they wanted with him!? That guy probably had some backup, somewhere...

…The carpark _looked_ empty, and no one approached him as he walked over to the bike… and the bike looked fine, the brake tyres weren’t cut or anything… It didn’t seem like that guy had expected him to try driving off at all...

 _*Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.*_ What the!? Who was trying to call him in the middle of the afternoon!?

Maybe it was Mondo… Well, _whoever_ it was, it’d be good to tell someone what had happened with Kino! He’d just have to keep an eye out around him for that guy while he dug out his phone and checked who was calling…

…It _was_ Kino… or Kino’s _number_ at least. Which meant that whoever that guy was, he probably _had_ Kino with him…

“…Who is this?” He answered, still keeping an eye out, even though he was starting to think the guy had a _different_ way of getting him to come back in mind…

“Uhh… sorry, but I can’t tell you.” A voice that sounded like Kino’s came through…

 _“Quit talking like me, you fucking fat FAKE!”_ Along with a _second_ voice that sounded like Kino’s… _“Michi, I dunno what he’s done, but I ain’t seen ya since breakfast! I went to get my stuff while you were seeing the boss off and this fuck was just sat in my tent and…”_

“Uhh… But as you asked earlier, all I’ve done to your friend was knock him out for a while!” The first guy carried on, while Kino yelled in the background. “For _now,_ anyway…”

 _For now…_ Just like he’d thought. But he still had to play along, anyway… “Whaddaya _want,_ then?”

“Just come back out the sport shed!” Dammit, this _was_ exactly what he thought was gonna happen when he saw the call, “There’s a van parked nearby, you just gotta climb in the back of it, and I’ll let him go! _”_

And there it was…

 _“What!? Michi, NO!”_ The real Kino yelled, _“Don’t listen to this fucker! And don’t worry ‘bout me! You gotta look after the gang!”_

Goddammit! Mondo _had_ trusted him to look after the gang… _everyone_ in the gang!

“Yeah, but… You’re a _bodyguard,_ right...?” The fake Kino reminded him, like he _needed_ it! “ _You’re_ the guy whose job it is to stop the guys in your gang getting hurt! Even if it means taking a hit yourself…”

_“SHUT THE FUCK UP! You don’t know SHIT about us!”_

_Grrraaarggh!_ This fake bastard was _right!_ Even if Kino didn’t _want_ him to, he couldn’t just _leave_ the guy there!

“Course, if you do what I say, you _won’t_ take any hits…” The fake carried on, like Kino wasn’t screaming curses at him.

“…You’re saying you ain’t gonna hurt me?” Takemichi asked, “So long as I go along with you, no one in the gang gets hurt?”

“Yeah! That’s right! We ain’t planning to hurt any of your gang! We just need _you,_ so long as none of ‘em try and stop you coming with me, I won’t have to hurt them!” The bastard answered, cheerfully. _“Man’s Promise!”_

“FUCK YOU!” Coming out with _that,_ like he was actually part of the gang and hadn’t just copied one of them…! “…But _fine._ I’ll do it, so let Kino go!”

“Sure… _after_ you’re in the van!” The guy insisted, “And don’t hang up this call either. I don’t want you calling anyone else and telling ‘em what’s going on…”

_“WHAT!? MICHI, DON’T…!”_

“Sorry, Kino! But he’s right! If I can stop you getting hurt, I’m gonna do it!” He shouted down the phone, hoping the guy could hear it from where he was, then lowered his voice for the sake of the fucker who was about to kidnap him… “Alright… I’m on my way…”

He headed back the way he came through the school, trying to ignore the screams that were coming out of his phone… Typical that that fucking hall monitor was nowhere to be seen _now!_ Not that he’d probably be any help at all, even if he or the teachers _did_ know what was going on… Hell, maybe the teachers were even _in_ on it! That might explain how this guy had managed to get a fucking _van_ onto the sports field, even though it was all supposed to be fenced off! Or why no one had seen and reported it, even though it was a bright white spot on a green field…

And just like the guy had said, the doors at the back were wide open, waiting for him to get in… But the door to the sport shed was shut…

“I’m here…” He told the guy down the phone. “Now let him go.”

“I can see you.” _How!?_ “Get in the van first.”

It wasn’t gonna be worth arguing with the guy right now… But he wasn’t gonna walk near that thing without checking it out first…

What the fuck was that thing in the driver’s seat!? A teddy bear!? A creepy looking one, with some weird red tear around its eye…

“The _back_ of the van.” The kidnapper barked in his ear. So he really _could_ see what Takemichi was doing…

He headed round to the back… It looked like there was _something_ in there… It was too small to be a person, but it looked like it shifted position a little as he got close to the door…

 _“Mmmwwwrrrrr…”_ It was muffled but…

“Is that a _cat!?”_ Why the fuck were they kidnapping him _and_ a cat!?

“Don’t worry, it ain’t gonna bite ya, or _scratch!”_ The fake Kino sounded pissed at it… good work, kitty! “Now, _get in!”_

“Alright, but I ain’t going in far enough for the doors to shut until you let Kino out!” That way, once the guy _had_ been let out, he could jump out and make a run for it…

“Gotcha!” Dammit… it was fucking annoying that this guy sounded like he was just making plans with a friend, not some asshole who was holding the friend he sounded like _hostage!_

Still… all he had to do was step up onto the back of the van, keeping hold of the outside of it, so no one could sneak up and slam the door shut, and wait for the door of the sports shed to open…

“Okay! Here’s your friend!” He heard the kidnapper announce in his ear _and_ as the door a few yards away from him opened, and a guy who looked like Kino came forward with the _real_ Kino, whose arms were tied up, pushed him to the ground and reached into his pocket for something…

 _Now!_ Takemichi’s leg sprang into action, to push him forward and start running towards his friend and…

_Something had just clamped around his neck!_

_“Hurrkk…!”_ Instead of jumping into action like he’d planned, he'd just yanked the chain that was now attached to his neck and choked himself. _Fuck!_ He couldn’t get out of the van like this, and he couldn’t get this thing _off_ either! But Kino had managed to stand up, and was coming towards him! If he could untie the guy, then maybe _he_ could get him out of here, and…

 _…and suddenly he couldn’t breathe again._ He was being pulled backwards by the thing around his neck and…

 _*THWAMP!*_ FUCK! His _head! Urggh…_ Don’t black out… he couldn’t black out… He had to focus… Kino was _right_ in front of the van… but that _other_ Kino was right behind him, and grabbed him by the ropes that were holding his arms, and then hit him on the back of the head and he slumped down…

 _“_ Y-you _fucker!_ You… _promised!”_ Takemichi managed to choke out… wait… he was still choking? This thing was still pulling on him! Getting hard to breathe...

“I told you that was only if they didn’t try and stop me…” The guy shrugged, hanging up Kino’s phone and dropping it on top of him as he laid there, tied up. “He ain’t gonna die though. I know how to knock a guy out, and they’re gonna find him when PE starts in another hour and a half…”

 _“Urk…”_ He couldn’t even breathe enough to tell this guy to go _fuck himself…_ But at least he seemed to be leaving Kino alone… He just walked up into the van towards him, and the cat he could now see was wrapped up tight and gagged next to him…

“Gimme the phone.” The fake held his hand out.

 _“F…furk…”_ He _almost_ managed to tell the guy to fuck off, before the foot slammed hard into his stomach… _“HUUURRR!”_

 _Crap!_ Now it was even harder to stay awake… and the guy had just taken his phone out of his hand… did he just drop it as he got back out the van… It was getting too dark to see… and then he heard the doors close and it got even darker… and then the floor under him rumbled and… and that was the van he was in driving off, and... and… his neck didn’t hurt so much now… he felt like he could breathe a little more… had the thing stopped pulling?

… _Urgh…_ it didn’t matter… he couldn’t move, and he was too tired to think anymore… But… at least the gang would be alright now… Hopefully… even without him there to help… they’d be alright with Mondo…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I know I say this all the time, but the next few chapters I have planned will be shorter than this, and I'm likely to be carrying on working from home for a while, which seems to help my writing a lot. So hopefully I'll be able to get the next update out a little quicker!


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